Rebuild: A Winx Club TxT fanfiction
by WolfQueen999
Summary: Tecna is from realm of Zenith, under the dictatorship of the sorcerer Imperio. Tecna knows there is more to life than her strict planet and there are more realms out there. When a group of heroes comes to Zenith, she jumps at the chance to escape. She meets a shy boy named Timmy, and despite her instincts she falls in love. Can he help her pick up the pieces and rebuild her life?
1. Chapter 1: The Great Escape

Disclaimer:

\- I do not own Winx Club or it's characters, they belong to Iginio Straffi and Rainbow Srl.

\- This story takes place in an alternate universe to the main Winx continuity.

Seventeen years ago_, the realm of Zenith was taken over by a megalomaniac sorcerer named Imperio. He eliminated the entire royal bloodline, so that his rule could not be disputed. He immediately imposed harsh new laws on the planet._

_No one could enter or leave it's atmosphere, which was protected by an enormous protective barrier that Imperio had cast himself._ _This barrier obscured the sky, blocking any view of any celestial bodies apart from the sun and moon._ He_ banned activities he deemed to be "trivial" such as music because he thought that they would impair the productivity of his regime. He also outlawed the display of emotions, believing that by allowing them to cloud people's judgements and control their actions, the Zenithian race would be corrupted. Contact with other realms was not allowed. From then on, Zenith was sealed off from the entire Magical Dimension._

_At the start, many courageous expeditions had been led to liberate Zenith, including one by the Company of Light themselves, but none of them succeeded. The realm of Zenith, and it's people were isolated from the rest of the Magical Dimension forever, or so it seemed._

_\--_

Tecna's life on Zenith had developed a distinct routine. Every morning at five, she would wake up. Then, herself and her mother would go collect food rations. At seven, she would go to school. She would come home at six, then study and do homework for the rest of the evening. At weekends she would study mostly, but her passion for technology called to her, and she could spend hours on end tinkering with her many devices. If she was honest with herself, she was bored with the strictness and repetitiveness of her life on Zenith but there wasn't much she could do about it.

Tecna couldn't help but think that the belief that Zenith was the only realm out there was simply ilogical, and that is there had to be other planets, maybe even other races of people. This was where she got the idea for her latest invention, the StarGazer3000. It was a long metal tube with a magnifying lense at the end. Tecna was hoping that with it, she would be able to look up into the sky and see the other planets out there.

\--

_"This is our planet, Zenith." Ms. Cesium pointed to a large diagram on the smartboard at the top of the class._

_"Miss Cesium?" A young girl with short magenta hair raised her hand._

_"Yes Tecna?" The teacher answered her call._

_"It is logically impossible for Zenith to be the only planet out there. We can't be the only sentient beings in existence."_

_The entire class fell silent._

_"Tecna," Ms. Cesium said "Speak to me after school."_

_It was finally time to go home from school, but Tecna had to speak to Ms. Cesium first._

_"Tecna, don't ever go say things like that again. In this realm you believe what you are told to believe. People can be punished severely for questioning what they have been told. I want you to promise me that you will never question the material we learn in class ever again."_

_"Affirmative, Ms. Cesium."_

_\--_

Tecna was five on that fateful day. She was now eighteen, and she was still convinced that there was so much more out there than just one planet. Tecna was in her bedroom working on her StarGazer one afternoon when she heard a calamity erupting outside. There were armed soldiers in full battle uniforms left right and center. People were pointing up at the sky. Tecna ran outside to see the chaos for herself. She nearly gasped at the sight but stopped herself knowing that showing emotion was dangerous. The energy shield was tearing apart, dissipating into nothing. An orange-red airship entered the atmosphere. Tecna's beliefs were finally confirmed. "I knew it!" Tecna thought to herself "There are other beings out there, and I'm going to find out more about them."

People emerged from the ship, 5 fairies and 5 men. These fairies weren't like the ones on Zenith. They had an array of different powers such as light, sun, plants, a sticky pink substance and peculiar patterns of sounds that Tecna had never encountered before. Tecna didn't know that such powers existed. Their outfits and wings were intricate and elaborate, clearly they were at a higher fairy form than her. Were there other forms that weren't on the Zenithian curriculum?

On Zenith they were only taught the most logical and least emotional form of magic, technomagic. Tecna had earned her Magic Winx two years ago when she completed a big invention, the first fairy in her grade to do so. She had also earned her Charmix at the age of seventeen. Her teachers often said that she was very powerful, but Tecna knew that she would never discover the full extent of her powers in Zenith's strict education system.

The fairies and the men began to fight off the Zenethian guards. "Now's my chance, I can see the rest of the universe for myself." Tecna thought. She stealthily walked past them, hiding behind whatever she could find. When no one was looking, she snuck on board the peculiar foreign ship.

Tecna hid behind a door and peeked around it to see if there was anyone on board. There was a red-haired boy who was around her age at the control panel.

"Alright Sky, you know the plan. You and Brandon fight off the guards. Riven, Helia, the girls and I will take on Imperio, hopefully we'll be able to capture him. I'm going in."

Capture Imperio? No one had taken him on in thirteen years. Why were they trying to capture him? Did he do something wrong? Many unanswered questions plagued Tecna, but she pushed them into the back of her mind.

Tecna walked into a storeroom, hoping to find somewhere to hide. She climbed up onto one of the shelves and covered herself with a blanket. She knew that the shelf wasn't going to hold her weight for long, but it would have to do. She waited there for a few hours, doing some work on the software of her palmtop to pass time. After a while, she heard the hatch of the ship opening and the sound of people coming in.

"Man, those Zenithian guards know every strategy in the book."

"Yeah, good job Timmy, Bloom told me about how you cracked the cipher to get into the palace."

"Thanks Sky, I'm just glad that Imperio's finally behind bars and Zenith's no longer a totalitarian dictatorship. Imperio's being escorted to the Omega Dimension."

"Timmy, speak English please."

"Sorry Stella."

Tecna heard the shelf she was sitting on groan and creak. With a loud crack, it broke underneath her, sending her falling towards the ground. She landed on her arm and let out a small cry of pain.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"I think it came from the storeroom."

"I'll go check it out."

Tecna tried to find another hiding spot but it was too late. The red-haired bespectacled boy from earlier was standing in the doorway. From overhearing their conversation, Tecna deducted that his name was Timmy.

Timmy gasped. There was a girl on the storeroom floor. And not just _any_ girl. She was incredibly beautiful, with short magenta hair and teal eyes. She had an air of intelligence, and he noticed that there was a high-tech palmtop on the floor next to her. Beautiful _and_ smart. Timmy felt his heartbeat speed up and his cheeks heat up. He noticed that his hands and knees had started to shake.

"H-hi, my name's Timmy. I heard a noise coming from here, are you hurt?" Timmy inched closer to her and realised that her arm was broken "I think your arm's broken! Come on, I'll take you to my friends, they'll be able to help."

Tecna stiffened up. This boy was making her feel a rather strange emotion. She felt warm, almost happy, but at the same time she was strangely nervous. Regardless of how this boy made him feel, she wasn't going to trust him that easily.

"I am alright, thank you. I do not believe that would be necessary." Tecna stated.

"You have a broken arm, that's not exactly alright. I'll go get Flora, she'll know what to do," Timmy put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Tecna felt strangely comfortable with physical contsct with him "Don't worry, you're safe with us." He smiled and left the room.

Tecna grabbed her palmtop and stood up. She tried to ignore the searing pain in her arm. She needed to get away from the people on this ship. She didn't need their help or their pity. She exited the storeroom and ran into the next room, which, unfortunately for Tecna, turned out to be the room where everyone, including Timmy, was gathered.

Tecna froze.

"Who are you and what are you doing on our ship?!" A boy with spiky magenta hair stood up with a weapon in his hand.

"Riven!" A girl with tanned skin and brown hair said "You're scaring her. She's probably a stowaway, she means no harm," She faced Tecna "Are you from Zenith?"

"Affirmative." Tecna replied.

"Wow, she talks just like a robot!" A blonde-haired girl said incrdulously.

"Stella!" Multiple people scolded her in unson.

"I found her in the storeroom, she has a broken arm, do you think you could help, Flora?" Timmy spoke up.

"Oh dear," the tanned girl named Flora said "Come here, I'll fix that." She beckoned Tecna over to a free chair.

"I'm Flora, what's your name?" Flora asked. Tecna hesitated. Could they be trusted? From the conversation she overheard, Tecna could assume that they were trying to help Zenith in some shape or form. Logically, that meant they could probably be trusted. Tecna decided to just say her first name.

"My name is Tecna." Tecna said. Timmy watched from afar as Flora used her powers to mend the beguiling and mysterious girl's arm. He now knew her name, Tecna. He spaced out, lost in thought about her.

"Timmy? Hello? Earth to Timmy!" Timmy jumped when he noticed that Brandon was waving around his hands in Timmy's face. Brandon chuckled.

"I think our Timmy's in love." Brandon teased.

"W-what? No!" Timmy protested, blushing.

"Don't worry dude, I'll be your wingman," Brandon smiled "The first step to winning her heart is getting to know her, so why don't you go talk to her?" Before Timmy had time to protest, Brandon pushed him over to Tecna and Flora.

"Uh...hi there!," Timmy laughed nervously, rather flustered "Umm.. how's her arm?" He asked Flora.

"It's a clean break alright, but Bloom has healing magic so she can fix that." Flora said. Timmy went back over to the guys. He still had butterflies in his stomach.

\--

A few minutes later, Bloom had fixed Tecna's arm and everyone was conversing in a big group, except for Tecna, who distanced herself from the others. Her objective was to get out of Zenith, not to make friends.

"Tecna!" Flora smiled welcomingly "Come over here and join us!"

Reluctantly, Tecna approached the main group and sat down in an empty seat next to a girl with blue-black hair.

"So," The girl named Stella said "Are you a fairy? Do they have fairies in Zenith?"

Tecna couldn't help but marvel at her ignorance.

"Yes, as a matter of fact we do, and I am one." Tecna stated.

"What's your power source?" A dark skinned girl asked.

"Technology." Tecna replied.

"Wow, really?," Flora gasped "Technomagic fairies are really rare in the rest of the Magical Dimension. I guess they're mostly from Zenith."

"Wow, a technomagic fairy," Timmy thought to himself "She just keeps getting more and more impressive."

"Have you earned your Enchantix yet?" Bloom enquired.

"Enchantix?," So this was the fairy level that these girls had "That's not on the Zenithian curriculum. I earned my Magic Winx and my Charmix."

"Let's see then." Stella said.

"Excuse me?" These girls were different from the ones on Zenith, not that Tecna talked to the girls on her home planet much.

"Transform. Show us what you got."

"Ok then. Tecna magic transform!"

Tecna transformed into her Magic Winx outfit, a purple jumpsuit with blue sleeves, blue boots, green wings and a purple helmet. Her jumpsuit and helmet were adorned with green jewels.

"Charmix!" Tecna also called upon her Charmix, which was a triangle-shaped pin and a hip bag shaped like a transmitter.

Seeing this Tecna in her fairy form took Timmy's breath away. Her unique beauty piqued his interest. Suddenly, the ship jolted to the side violently.

"Timmy!" The boy named Riven shouted "We're losing altitude."

"I'll go check the computer!," Timmy ran down the hall "Oh no, the mainframe's completely fried!"

"I'll take care of that!" Tecna used her technomagic to merge her power source with the computer, green beams coming from her wings and attaching themselves to the control panel. The altitude of the ship stabilised and it resumed it's journey.

"Whoah!" Timmy was in awe "That was awesome!"

"Thank you." Tecna responded curtly.

"How did you do that?" The blue-black haired girl asked.

"It's simple, I merged my power source with the computer's system." Tecna said.

"Wow, she's so powerful, and intelligent too." Despite the fact that Timmy had just met this girl he was already head over heels for her.

"Girls, I think we have ourselves a new addition to the Winx!" Bloom exclaimed.

The Winx? Was that the name of their group.

"Would you like to join?," Flora attempted to persuade the technology fairy "We study at Alfea College for Fairies. You can learn to use your powers there and we can help you get your Enchantix!"

"Hmmm..," Tecna thought "These girls seem non-threatening, and fairies are creatures of positive magic, but not everyone can be trusted. However, I will be able to hone my powers in their school and earn this Enchantix power they speak of."

"I shall join you in your group and come with you to your school." Tecna decided.

"Awesome!" Bloom said "Welcome to the Winx Club Tecna!"


	2. Chapter 2: Alfea College For Fairies

Tecna was gradually getting exhausted. She had been in her fairy form for approximately 2.2 hours connected to the mainframe of the ship. The boy named Timmy had been fixing the computer in the meantime, so that once it was repared Tecna could transform back into humam form. Tecna could feel herself getting weaker and weaker, her vision getting fuzzy and her hands getting clammy. Tecna held her head in her hands, a sudden dizzy spell getting the better of her. The world was spinning, but she had to hang on just for a few minutes longer.

"The mainframe's fixed!" Timmy walked in. His face fell as soon as he saw Tecna's condition "Tecna, are you alright?"

The black-haired girl, who Tecna now knew was called Musa entered the room.

"She's been in her fairy form for so long that it's drained her energy, if she doesn't transform out of her fairy form she's going to faint!" Musa said.

Tecna, who was now as white as a sheet, transformed back into her human form and dropped to the ground immediately.

"Oh no!" Timmy and Musa ran over to her.

"Musa, get a sleeping bag from the storeroom, she needs to rest."

Without comment, Musa ran to the storeroom.

Timmy touched the side of Tecna's face, she was burning up. He pushed her hair out of her face and gasped when he saw a red circular scar on her forehead, previously covered by her hair.

"What did they do to her on Zenith?," Timmy thought. He barely knew this girl yet he was already concerned for her safety "What is Tecna hiding?"

\--

_Tecna was in her room crying. It was her first day of fifth grade and it was already going terribly. Tecna had always been an outcast, but the bullying had gotten even worse this year. People were taunting, whispering, even stealing her belongings and breaking her gadgets._

_Tecna's adopted dad Circutio walked in. Tecna jumped and wiped her tears immediately, no one could see that she was letting her emotions get the better of her. The look on Circutio's face became grave when he saw her red eyes and tear-stained face._

_"Tecna," he said "Come with me."_

_Every Zenithian dwellling had a shock chamber in the basement. It was routine treatment for emotionalness, and sometimes radical beliefs._

_"Circutio, wait!," Tecna's adopted mother, Neutronia grabbed his arm "It is not necessary to resort to this, Tecna is just a child!"_

_"I'm sorry Neutronia, this is the only way. If Tecna continues to show emotion she could be severely punished." Circutio said coldly, trying to hide his remorse._

_Circutio grabbed Tecna's arm and walked with her into the sound-proof glass chamber. Tecna sat down in the cold metal chair. Iron cuffs instantly bound her hands and legs, preventing her from moving. Circutio placed a single electrode on her forehead, in a space that could be easily covered by her hair._

_"I'm sorry." Circutio whispered an apology in Tecna's ear, knowing that saying sorry was a meagre exchange for the pain Tecna was about to endure. Without saying another word, he locked Tecna in the shock chamber and went over to the control panel. He turned on the system and put the voltage up to 50%._

_Tecna was writhing and screaming from the searing pain of the electricity ripping through her veins, she could feel a red circle being burned into the side of her head from the electrode._

_Circutio couldn't hear her screams, he only saw her terrified face, making him feel more guilty than ever._

_"How could you do this to our own daughter?" Neutronia gasped._

_"She is not our daughter." Circutio turned his back on his wife and walked upstairs._

_\--_

When Tecna finally came to, she was lying in a comfortable bed. She didn't recognise her surroundings. Was this the Alfea College for Fairies? Or did they trick her and leave her somewhere else? As far as Tecna knew, she could even be sure that Alfea existed. She went onto her palmtop for answers. Now that she was out of Zenith, she could connect to the realm wide web instead of highly censored Zenithian equivalent.

Tecna looked up the Alfea College for Fairies. It was indeed a real place, infact, it was the best fairy school in the whole Magical Dimension. The fairies that study there are trained with the end goal of earning their Enchantix and becoming the Guardian Fairies of their respective realms.

Now Tecna understood why Enchantix wasn't on the Zenithian curriculum and why there were no guardian fairies on Zenith. If, hypothetically, a fairy in Zenith reached that level of power, they might just be powerful to overthrow Imperio.

Tecna got up and looked around. The room she was in appeared to be some form of infirmary. The nurse was absent, so Tecna cautiously opened the infirmary door in the hopes of finding out what was going on. The hallways were empty, not a single being occupied the high-ceilinged corridors. Tecna was just starting to walk when shr heard a threatening voice behind her.

"Young lady!" A cantankerous-looking woman with short brown hair and glasses scowled at her "What are you doing out of class?!"

"I just got here, is this the Alfea College for Fairies?" Tecna asked calmly.

"It's no use playing dumb with me, you're coming with me to Headmistress Faragonda's office!"

"I am not playing dumb, that would be most illogical. I arrived here from Zenith with the Winx Club." Tecna said.

"You're the girl from Zenith the Winx mentioned...," The woman stared at Tecna incredulously "No one's left Zenith in seventeen years."

"Affirmative. The Winx and their male friends destroyed the barrier and captured Imperio. I left with them on their ship. They said that I could study here to learn about my powers and earn the Enchantix power." Tecna gave a brief summary of what had happened.

"Follow me to the headmistress' office. She'll know what to do." The woman started walking to the left, gesturing at Tecna to follow her. She brought Tecna to a set of double doors.

"Faragonda, are you there? It's urgent. The girl from Zenith has came to." She knocked on one of the large oak doors

"The girl has a name Grizelda." A wise-sounding voice said "Come in Tecna."

Tecna stepped into a large, spacious office. A white-haired woman in purple was sitting at a wooden desk. She had glasses and was wearing hoop earrings.

"Take a seat," the woman, who Tecna presumed was the headmistress, conjured a chair for Tecna to sit in "My name is Headmistress Faragonda, welcome to the Alfea College for Fairies."

"Thank you." Tecna said.

"You're from Zenith, right?" Faragonda asked.

"Affirmative." Tecna replied.

"Who are your parents? Surely they're worried about where you've gone?" Faragonda appeared to be concerned, which Tecna didn't understand. Why is she concerned for someone she barely knows?

"I do not know who my parents are, however my legal guardians are Circutio and Neutronia Analogue."

"I see. The Winx told me you're a technology fairy and you're working towards your Enchantix power, is this correct?" The Winx must have filled her in on the whole situation.

"Affirmative."

"Well then, I'll put you into our third year class, you'll fit right in. From what the Winx said, it sounds like you possess incredible power. Grizelda, escort this young lady to class, I think they're with Wizgiz."

\--

"Class, we have a new student," Ms. Grizelda glared at the group of fairies "This is Tecna from Zenith."

Murmurs could be heard from all over the classroom. Clearly the presence of a Zenithian escapee was a big deal.

"Settle down girls!," She snapped "Tecna, go sit down next to Musa." Tecna sat down next to Musa, who waved at her amiably as she walked over.

"Oh, and one last announcement. I will now be instructing compulsory battle classes, which will take place on Mondays and Fridays in the courtyard from three to four o'clock," The young fairies groaned, knowing that Grizelda wasn't going to take it easy on them "Your first class is today, straight after this class infact, so do be punctual or there will be consequences."

Grizelda left the room, exuding an air of coldness.

"Right then, Stella, would you care to explain to Tecna what we have been working in this class?"

Stella, who had been in her own world tje whole lesson, desperately tried to figure out what had went on.

"Well...I...uh... we did transfiguration, right?" Stella laughed nervously.

Professor Wizgiz sighed.

"While you are not wrong in a sense, as this is transfiguration class, please do pay attention Stella. Anyway, we were working on overcoming your fears. To earn your Enchantix powers you will need a great deal of courage, so why not build on that by incorporating transfiguration magic? Each person was given a rabbit. By using a spell, I transformed each rabbit into the greatest fear of the person it was assigned to. Everyone then had to work up the courage to face her fears and revert the rabbit to its original form, using the spell 'Darkus Revertus'. Do you understand Tecna?"

"Affirmative." Tecna's usual response garnered some snickers from her classmates.

"Well then, why not try it again?," Wizgiz smiled "Transformus Darkus!"

The entire room was plunged into chaos. People were screaming and crying all sround her, not a single person had used the necessary incantation. Tecna stared at her rabbit, which had become a sphere, showing Tecna a vision of herself.

This version of Tecna was a lot more emotional. She laughed and jumped for joy, she lashed out when she was angry, she cried and sobbed when she was sad. Suddenly, the vision changed. The emotions clouded her judgement. They disabled her logic, took over her brain and her actions and made her so much more vulnerable to others. Then, people found out that she was experiencing these emotions. She farmiliar coldness of the shock chamber, the electricity burning into her body...

Tecna snapped out of it. She needed to be strong. She couldn't let a nonsensical vision cause her to feel scared, fear would only exacerbate things. She felt her powers pulsing through her veins. She raised her hands. She felt anger rising up, much to her discomfort.

"Darkus Revertus!" Tecna yelled, light from her hands smashing into the twisted vision and sending the poor rabbit spiralling backwards into Wizgiz's arms. Energy pulsed out of her, rippling outwards and creating a few cracks on the walls.

"Well done Tecna! You harnessed the power of your emotions and put them into your magic rather than letting them keep you in fear. I can see you are extremely powerful, you'll earn your Enchantix in no time!" Wizgiz congratulated Tecna. "Emotions?," Tecna thought "No, that's the last thing I need!"

"Nice work Tecna!," Musa smiled "I wouldn't want to be going up against you in battle class that's for sure!"

\--

"I hope you're prepared fairies," Grizelda stood before the group of third year students "Because this is going to be a tough class."

She instructed everyone to pair up. Tecna went to go pair up with one of the Winx, after all there was five of them, an odd number. However, the last of them, Aisha, had been asked to pair up with a girl named Francine. Before Tecna knew it, she was the last one left.

"Well Tecna," Grizelda smirked "Looks like you're with me."

They both flew into the air, ready to battle. Grizelda fired a plasma sphere at Tecna, who blocked it with an energy shield, then blasted Grizelda with some of her magic. Grizelda fired again, this time knocking Tecna out of the air.

"You're too rigid, you need to use your emotions to unlock your full power," Grizelda said "You won't earn your Enchantix unless you give in to emotion."

Give in to emotion? Tecna had never been told to do such a thing in her life. Tecna got up and flew towards Grizelda, hitting her with a sphere of technomagic.

"Emotions will only hinder my progresss by clouding my judgement." Tecna dodged Grizelda's next attack.

"Most fairy magic is based on emotion, if you don't feel that emotion you will never become a true fairy." Grizelda attacked again.

Tecna deflected Grizelda's attack, sending it flying back to her and knocking her to the ground.

"I will become a true fairy, and I won't let some cumbersome emotions stop me from reaching full power!" Tecna let out a sudden burst of energy, sending Grizelda falling towards the ground. Everyone in Alfea could feel the powerful magic expand through the air. Musa could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Oh my! Look what you've done, you've killed Ms. Grizelda!" A girl named Amaryl laughed maliciously at Tecna's expense.

Headmistress Faragonda and a woman who Tecna presumed to be the nurse walked into the courtyard.

"Headmistress," Tecna flew over to them "Grizelda is unconscious, and while it was my fault I assure you that it was an accident, I lost control of my powers."

"Don't worry Tecna, I am well aware of the situation," Faragonda reassured her "Tecna, you are a very powerful fairy, and with some help you could learn more about your power source and learn to harness them to her full potential, which is why I want you to come to my office every Wednesday at 6 PM for special classes." Faragonda looked her in the eye then went over to the nurse and Grizela's unconscious form.

\--

Class was finally finished for the day. It was now Friday, which meant that they could spend the weekend doing whatever they desired.

"Tecna!," Musa caught up to the technology fairy "Come with me, you've been assigned to our dorm. I think we're roommates!" Tecna followed Musa to the Winx Club's dorm room.

"Hey guys!," Stella greeted Tecna and Musa upon their arrival "Brandon invited us to go hang out with the boys tonight!"

"Great," Bloom said "I can't wait to see Sky!"

"Have fun." Tecna presumed that was what one is supposed to say when people are going to a recreational activity.

"Oh no no no, you're coming too," Stella smiled "In fact, I think Timmy might have a bit of a thing for you, maybe you do too." Stella giggled.

"What? No. Love is a trivial and unproductive way to spend my time." Tecna said.

"That's what they all say. Anyway, we need to go shopping first, I'm presuming you didn't bring any clothes except that drab outfit you're wearing." Stella said. In truth, Tecna's Zenethian outfit was rather drab, as was most clothing in Zenith. She wore a simple white blouse and pants with flat shoes.

"So," Stella took off her ring, which transformed into a large white sceptre "What are we waiting for, let's go to the mall!"

\--


	3. Chapter 3: A Sky Full of Stars

Stella used her sceptre to transport the girls to a large building filled with shops, which Tecna presumed was a mall. Stella immediately felt the need to drag a rather exhausted Tecna around to what felt like millions of stores. First they went to buy some everyday clothes. Stella took her to the fitting rooms and made her try on every single item of clothing, the painstaking process wearing Tecna out.

Next they went to find something that Tecna could wear that night. She chose a purple sleeveless skater dress with a skirt that ended at the halfway down her thighs. Girls were encouraged to cover up their bodies on Zenith and all clothing was rather plain, so such clothes were new to Tecna. She felt like quite the fish out of water in this ocean of elaborate garments, but she tried her best to embrace the new experience.

Stella also brought her into a shoe store. Tecna eventually chose a pair of converse, but Stella seemed to prefer a more impractical type of shoe with an elevated heel. Tecna tried walking in a pair and fell flat on her face, much to the annoyance of the woman working in the store. She decided she was better off with flat shoes unless she at some point wanted to be a walking health and safety hazard.

After a what felt like many hours of shopping, they headed back to Alfea to get ready. Stella insisted on giving Tecna a full makeover. She first attacked Tecna's hair with a scissors to tidy it up. Tecna learned a spell to temporarily cover up the scar on her forehead so that Stella couldn't see it.

Tecna had come to realise that the beauty standards in Magix, were much higher than the ones on Zenith. Stella put a collection of substances she referred to as "makeup" on Tecna's face.Tecna didn't enjoy the feeling of being poked and prodded with various brushes and sponges, but she knew that resistance was futile. When Stella was finished, Tecna looked in the mirror. She almost felt like a completely different person.

Tecna changed into her new purple dress and a demin jacket. She put her palmtop in her pocket and walked out to the living room of their dorm, where the other girls were waiting patiently (or impatiently, in Stella's case) for their boyfriends to arrive.

"Wow Tecna, you look amazing." Musa said.

"Thanks Musa." Tecna felt slightly awkward, she had never been complimented on her looks before.

"Look, the guys are here!" Stella squealed, pointing at a ship in Alfea's courtyard. Tecna could feel the excitement in the air as the girls practically ran out the door and through Alfea's maze-like hallways to the courtyard.

\--

"Alright, we've landed." Timmy got up on his chair on the control panel.

"So, you ready to get that girl?" Brandon teased.

"Brandon...," Timmy trailed off, he couldn't deny that he already had a massive crush on Tecna.

"Brandon, you can't just pressure him into talking to her. He's nervous." As the dad of the group, Helia felt the need to reprimand his "son".

"Yeah Dad, I understand." Brandon replied sarcastically. He sauntered off to go talk to Sky. Riven was sitting in his "emo corner" (as Brandon dubbed it) while Nabu was attempting to make him smile for once by showing him pictures of puppies. Just another normal day in the life of the Specialists. While the others went to open the hatch of the ship, Timmy hung back to talk to Helia.

"Helia, I think I really like Tecna, but I have no idea how to talk to her," Timmy said forlornly, staring into the distance "I don't know what to do."

"Well, do you to have any common interests? She's into technology too right?"

Helia suggested. Timmy nodded.

"Well you could start a conversation with something technology related. You could ask if she's made any devices or programmed anything. Then as the conversation progresses, you can widen the subject matter."

"Of course, why didn't I think of that, thanks Helia!" Timmy and Helia caught up with the other guys as they opened the hatch. Timmy had finally obtained a sliver of confidence, he felt a lot more ready to talk to Tecna than he did five minutes ago.

"Brandon!" Stella ran into her lovers arms and kissed him on the lips, not caring how many people saw them.

"So," Bloom asked Sky with a mischievous glint in her eye "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to go camping for the night have a picnic under the stars at Lake Roccaluchae."

All of the couples immediately went over to each other, leaving Timmy and Tecna standing awkwardly a few metres away from each other.

"H-hey Tecna," Timmy could barely contain his nerves.

"Hello Timmy." Tecna noticed that he seemed rather bashful. Tecna found his shyness cute, but then realised how illogical she was being and internally yelled at herself.

"So...y-you're into technology too right?" Timmy asked.

"Yeah. I invented many devices back on Zenith."

"Cool! Can you tell me about them?"

Tecna started from the beginning, describing the fundamentals of her inventions.

"My most recent invention was called the StarGazer3000. When I was on Zenith I knew that there was a multitude of other planets out there, despite what I had been told, so I built a device that would let me look up into the sky and see them." Tecna described her most recent inventions after mentioning her previous ones.

"Here in Magix we call those telescopes, in fact, I have one on the ship. We can use it when we get to the lake if you want." Timmy offered.

"Really?," Despite Tecna's better judgement, she could feel herself getting excited. She noted that she lost control of her emotions easily around Timmy. "That would be great!"

Tecna couldn't help but notice that some emotions were different to others, in fact, some positive emotions were quite pleasant to experience, however, she was aware that emotions were dangerous in any shape or form. She had been taught to hide her emotions for her whole life, so naturally, she felt quite conflicted. It seemed as if people were much more accepting of emotions her, maybe it couldn't hurt to let go of logic just a small bit.

"If only I could put logic aside for a moment and let myself be swayed by emotion, after all, it can't be that bad." She thought.

Timmy hadn't seen Tecna smile before, and it made him fall for her even more.

"Y-you have a really nice smile." Timmy commented.

Before she could stop herself, Tecna found herself blushing. "What is wrong with you?" Tecna's logical inner voice was trying to take control.

"Thanks Timmy."

Everyone boarded the ship and got ready to take off. Tecna offered to help Timmy at the control panel, which he gladly accepted. Tecna seemed to enjoy talking to him for some inexplicable reason, there was something about being around him that made her feel secure and warm. Despite Tecna's IQ of 150, she couldn't figure out what that feeling was.

"Looks like Tecna and Timmy have really hit it off." Stella giggled.

"I'm just happy that they enjoy each other's company. I hadn't seen Tecna smile before until she started talking to Timmy. I'm glad she's happy, her life in Zenith must have been so hard." Flora was an empath, and she could tell that Tecna's past hadn't been a walk in the park.

"We hardly know anything about her old life, it's almost as if she's hiding something." Bloom mused.

"We can't really force her to tell us, I guess we'll have to wait until she's ready to open up to us." Aisha said.

Five minutes later, the ship landed on the shores of Lake Roccaluchae. The Specialists immediately started to set up the tents. The girls decided to go grab some firewood. Aisha made them some axes with her morphix and they headed into the dark forest.

Stella immediately sat down on a tree stump and admired herself in her compact mirror. Manual labour was not her thing.

"So Tecna, how it's going with Timmy?"She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"We had a conversation on the ship and he's going to show me his telescope. That's all." Tecna replied curtly. Stella giggled and winled at her. Clearly she was trying to communicate with Tecna in some form of body language that she was supposed to understand. The girls gathered some firewood and headed back to the lake.

When Tecna arrived back at the lakeshore, Timmy had already finished setting up the telescope, and was sitting next to it waiting for Tecna.

"Tecna!," Timmy called her "Over here!"

Tecna ran over, excited to try out the telescope.

"Look into the end, then you'll be able to see the planets."

Tecna sat down in front of the telescope and looked in. She gasped in awe, she had never seen anything like it before. She could see stars and planets that went on for miles. After eighteen years of being kept in the dark, she could finally see the light, and it was so overwhelmingly beautiful that Tecna nearly lost control of her emotions entirely.

"Wow...," Tecna couldn't believe her eyes "It's amazing."

Timmy smiled.

"You see that blue planet in the bottom right? That's Andros, Aisha's planet. Most of the planet is covered in water and there's a race of mermaids that live in the ocean. Then that really bright planet in the top right is Solaria, Stella's planet. It's physically impossible for it to rain there, unless someone casts a powerful dark spell. The planet on the left is Eraklyon, that's where Sky and Brandon are from. Right next to Eraklyon is Domino. Seventeen years ago, it was attacked by a coven of powerful witches, and now it's a frozen wasteland. Bloom was the sole survivor of the attack. And you see that really far away planet in the top corner?"

"Affirmative." Tecna was happily absorbing all the new information.

"That's Zenith," Timmy said "You travelled from there all the way here."

Tecna was still in a state of exhilaration. She tried to stop herself from feeling too much emotion, but it was awe-inducing, yet almost overwhelming to finally see whar was out there. Years of suspicion and childhood daydreams were finally confirmed.

"Thanks Timmy!" Without warning, she leaned forward and hugged him. She was silently cursing herself for being overemotional but she couldn't help it. For the first time she felt so... alive. Tecna let go of him, blushing for some reason that was beyond her.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me." Tecna apologised, suddenly feeling rather bashful.

"It's ok Tecna, this must be a big deal for you. Now why don't we go get some food before Nabu eats all the chicken wings?"

\--

The Winx and the Specialists were all sitting on a big picnic blanket eating a variety of different foods, many of which Tecna had never heard of before. She decided that her favourite was a substance the others called "spinach".

Afterwards, Stella initiated a game of "truth or dare".

"What's truth or dare?" Tecna asked quizzically.

"It's a game where you either answer a personal question, or do something stupid." Aisha said bluntly. Neither fates sounded appealing to Tecna in the slightest, so she decided she wanted to avoid being dragged into it if she could.

"So...Timmy? Truth or dare?" Stella smirked, twirling her hair around her fingertip. Timmy blinked in surprise.

"Ummm... truth?" He decided to play it safe.

Stella giggled as if she already knew what she was going to say.

"You like Tecna, don't you?" She raised one eyebrow.

"W-what?," It was plain to see that Timmy was getting flustered. His face started to blush crimson, only adding to the effect "No, I don't. That's an illogical assumption!"

"Seems perfectly logical to me considering how flustered you're getting." Stella smiled, knowing she had the high ground on this matter.

"Anyway, moving on!," Timmy tried desperately to change the subject "Nabu, truth or dare!"

A few rounds of truth or dare later, everyone was exhausted. The dares ranged from Aisha arm wrestling Nabu (she won), Riven washing the gel out of his hair (it was really quite terrifying), Sky doing drag, Flora doing an impression of her polar opposite, Icy, Brandon and Stella switching clothes ("Stella, do you think you could use your magic stuff to make your dress fit me?" "Brandon, the real question is why do you, Riven and Sky wear crop tops") and Bloom using her dragon flame to toast marshmallows, which all burned immediately.

After the... interesting round of truth or dare, they started a campfire.

"How about we make some s'mores?" Sky susuggested.

"I just hope there's some marshmallows left that haven't been burned to a crisp!" Bloom laughed.

"What are s'mores?" Tecna whispered to Timmy.

"A combination of toasted marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. We'll show you." He replied. Tecna hadn't the faintest idea what graham crackers were but she just went with it.

A few minutes later, everyone was sitting around the campfire eating s'mores.

"I don't get it," Stella said to Flora and Helia "How do you eat those, they aren't even real s'mores?"

"They taste the same, they're just gluten-free vegan alternatives." Flora explained. Helia nodded in agreement.

"Speak English not hippie please." Stella groaned and leaned back into Brandon's arms.

"Ummm...Stella?" Brandon noticed that he had made quite the mistake.

"Yes sweetie?" Stella said.

"Well...you see, you leaned back into my arms quite quickly so there's kind of... marshmallow in your hair."

"There's WHAT in my hair?!" Stella jumped up, panicking greatly. She screamed, ran over to the lake and dumped her head into the water, frantically trying to get the marshmallow out of her hair. At this point everyone was laughing, even Tecna.

"What are you guys laughing at?" Stella grumbled. She had came back from the lake and now had seaweed in her hair. This simply made everyone laugh harder.

"Ugh! Now I have dirty lake water in my hair!" Stella sat down next to Brandon and crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry Stella." Brandon apologised meekly.

"Will you make it up to me?" Stella pouted.

"We'll go shopping tomorrow I promise." Brandon sighed.

"Yay!" Stella squealed and threw her arms around him.

\--

After hours of shenanigans, everyone was finally in their tents ready to go to sleep.

"Musa?," Tecna was usual reluctant to open up to people, but she needed some clarity on what she was feeling around Timmy. Besides, the people here seemed to be more welcoming of emotion than on Zenith.

"What is it Tecna."

"Well, whenever I'm around Timmy I feel kinda... weird. It's like I feel happy and nervous at the same time. I get metaphorical butterflies in my stomach and I feel sort of... warm and secure in a sense. I really enjoy being around him, I feel like I could talk to him for hours. I don't know what it is nor how to describe it."

"Oh Tecna," Musa laughed "That's love."


	4. Chapter 4: Logic vs Love

Tecna lay awake in her sleeping bag for hours, trying to process the events of the past day. She had learned so much in the past few days that it felt as if her life had only just begun. Her whole world had turned upside down and she wasn't sure whether she liked it or not. She had left her home realm, learned about the other planets, and met Timmy, who she couldn't stop thinking about.

Musa insisted that she was in love, but Tecna still couldn't wrap her head around that. She had never even been in love before. It was the most illogical of all emotions. In Zenith, love and showing love was not only taboo but a major breach of the law against emotions. Marriages were arranged by families based on compatibility, which was calculated by machines. Even parents couldn't show love to their children. That on top of the fact that she was adopted meant that Tecna had a pretty cold upbringing. She had never even felt welcome in her own home. Love clouds one's judgement. Plus, love is a leap of faith. What if it just ends in both parties being hurt? Tecna was wary of putting that trust in just anyone.

But then there was Timmy. He wasn't just anyone. He was so kind and genuinely seemed to care about her. He was smart, liked technology and fun to talk to. He even offered to set up his telescope so he could show her the planets. He was undeniably cute physically as well, with his hazel eyes and tousled red hair. Tecna just couldn't figure out what to do. She was falling for him, and hard, but love was such an illogical concept and she couldn't risk her sanity for it, could she?

\--

Thoughts about Tecna plagued Timmy's mind, preventing him from even thinking about sleep. She was so beautiful, with bright, curious teal eyes and vibrant magenta hair. She was smart and loved technology just as much as Timmy did, however, Timmy couldn't avoid the suspicion that she was hiding something. She seemed rather reserved when they first met her, and she rarely displayed emotion, perhaps a behaviour she had learned on Zenith. Then there was that red circular scar on her forehead. She had clearly been harmed in some way, and this worried Timmy greatly. Whatever, was going on, Timmy wanted to help, but he couldn't just force her to tell him everything. He'd have to earn her trust.

"Timmy, are you still awake?" Helia knew his bespectacled friend was still awake.

"I sure am." Timmy sighed.

"You're thinking about Tecna, aren't you?" Helia knew Timmy's mind like the back of his hand and he could tell that the nerdy specialist was in love.

"Yeah, I am," Timmy said "I just wish I could tell if she liked me back or not."

"Well she doesn't seem to be too fond of displaying emotion, so that could be hard," Helia mused "Try to think about her behaviour around you. She does talk to you a lot, and she looks like she really enjoys it. Does she blush or get slightly nervous? Does she let her guard down more easily around you, does she show more emotion?"

Timmy had a brainwave. Earlier after he showed her the telescope she let go of her emotionlessness just for a moment and hugged him, and when she let go, she was blushing. "It was probably just a coincidence," Timmy thought "After all, how could a goddess like her fall for a nobody like me?"

\--

It was now Monday morning, three days after she had arrived at the Alfea College For Fairies. Tecna was eating her breakfast with the Winx. Aside from Stella getting into a heated fashion debate with a girl named Amaryl, it had been a fairly normal morning so far. Ms. Faragonda strolled towards the top of the room, most likely to make an announcement to the chattering fairies.

"Good morning girls," Faragonda smiled warmly at her students "I have an important announcement to make."

This statement piqued the interest of the young fairies.

"Tonight there will be a ball at Red Fountain, and all of the fairies in Alfea have been invited!"

A large cheer erupted from the crowd, Tecna noticed that anything involving boys seemed to put these girls in a good mood.

"There will be ships from Red Fountain coming to pick us up from the courtyard at eight o'clock sharp, if you are late you might just get left behind." Grizelda warned them.

"Don't mind Grizelda, rest assured we will not leave the campus until everyone is accounted for. You are dismissed."

The girls stood up and started to walk to their classes.

\--

After finally getting ready for the ball, the Winx girls walked out to the courtyard, where the rest of the student body was gathered. Tecna was wearing a dress she borrowed from Stella. It was lime green with a magenta sash. She had a matching hairpiece and a pair of the peculiar shoes with elevated heels. Tecna stumbled quite a lot when she first put on said shoes and she was still wary of falling over. The girls were sitting on a bench talking to each other when a whole fleet of Red Fountain ships descended from the sky. The fairies gasped in awe as the ships glided towards the ground and landed gracefully.

"Listen up!," Grizelda looked at the girls sharply "Each of you have been assigned to a squad of specialists, who will escort you to the ball in their ships. If there are any... shenanigans," She paused "there will be consequences." A few giggles erupted from the crowd. Without further ado, the girls boarded their assigned ships.

The Winx, including Tecna, boarded one of the many Red Fountain ships. Tecna couldn't help but smile when she saw that the boy piloting the ship was none other than Timmy.

"Hey Tecna!" Timmy smiled and waved at her.

"Hello Timmy." Tecna walked over to him.

"Um...are you looking forward to the ball?" Timmy asked.

"I've never been to a ball before. I don't know what to expect." Tecna stated.

"Well... there's music, and everyone dances, usually in pairs?" Timmy explained.

"Music? Dancing?," Tecna was already confused "What are those?"

(A/N: What are thosssseeee???? That's a dead vine/meme I know but shhh)

"Oh, well music is a pattern of different sounds mixed together, and dancing is when people move to the beat of the music." Timmy tried to explain. He himself wasn't exactly an expert in either fields as he had zero musical talent and had the dancing skills of a wet noodle.

"I see." Tecna knew she had a lot to learn, every day she was learning more and more about what was beyond Zenith.

After a five minute journey, the girls arrived at Red Fountain. Tecna noticed that her new friends were getting excited, giddy even. She had a feeling that they were in for a calamitous night.

\--

Hello everyone! Finally I have this chapter done. Unfortunately due to the existence of the education system, updates will be slower from now on. On the bright side, I have an idea for another fanfiction that I might start writing soon. I don't know what to call it yet, but it's kind of structured like a slice of life/sitcom kinda thing. It takes place after the Winx Club show. It's kinda like a TV sitcom in the sense that there isn't much of a central plot and each episode has it's own story. I have the first three chapters planned out:

Chapter 1: Calamity in The Club- Stella brings everyone clubbing. Enough said.

Chapter 2: Technology Shmology- Tecna loses a bet and has to go without technology for a day. Hint: it doesn't go well.

Chapter 3: The Greenhouse Effect- Flora manages to cultivate a rare plant and brings the group to her greenhouse to show them, but things go awry when they get locked inside it.

Anyway, goodbye and thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5: A Ball at Red Fountain

The fleet of ships landed in the large hangar of Red Fountain. The ships quickly started to empty, excitable teenage girls streaming out of every vehicle.

"Silence!," A muscular man with brown hair and a mustache shouted, extinguishing every sound immediately "My name is Professor Codatorta and I teach here in Red Fountain. In a few minutes we will started bringing each group into the elevator to go to the ball. No pushing, no shoving, etcetera etcetera etcetera. Prince Sky, your group goes first. The rest of you wait here."

"Woohoo!" Stella looked like she could barely contain her excitement as she and the others clambered into the spacious elevator. They went up from floor to floor until they reached the top level. The doors slid open, revealing an ornately decorated roof terrace. There were tables with finger food and drinks and a large stage in the centre. Tecna looked up, night had fallen and she could see the moon and all the stars. She gazed upwards, enraptured by the vast expanse of sky.

"Wow, I can see approximately 3,000 stars from here." Tecna gasped. Timmy simply smiled as the magenta-haired fairy marvelled at the view.

"Whoops, thats my cue!," Musa kissed Riven on the cheek "Bye guys!" She ran over to the stage. Riven blushed. He tried to keep a straight face, a smile threatening to override his usually nonchalant expression. He hated to admit it but he found it cute when Musa was all couple-y with him. Musa walked out onto the stage, earning a warm applause from the attendees of the ball.

"Hi everyone! Today I'm going to be performing a few of my own songs. The first one is called 'Catch Us If You Can' and I hope you like it!" Musa grabbed a strange metal object with strings and started using it to make a pattern of different sounds, which Tecna presumed to be music.

"Come on guys, lets dance!" Stella, being the resident party girl of the group, ushered everyone out on to the dance floor. Everyone started to make strange movements with their hands and sometimes their legs too. Tecna presumed this was dancing. She tried to copy them but ended up looking and feeling quite awkward. Eventually the awkwardness was over and the Winx and Specialists took a break to go get some food.

"Hey guys!" Musa ran over to her friends.

"Musa, you were amazing." Flora smiled warmly.

"Thanks Flo." It seemed as if Musa had a penchant for nicknames, considering she also called Stella 'Stell' and Aisha 'Layla' (Tecna was told this was some sort of strange inside joke, she decided not to question it).

"So Tecna, did you enjoy the dancing?" Stella asked.

"Negative. It made me feel quite ridiculous." Tecna stated.

"People here must speak a bit differently than they do on Zenith. Maybe try saying 'yes' or 'okay' and 'no' instead of affirmative and negative." Bloom suggested.

"Okay." Tecna replied. Even the simple things about this new world fascinated her, it was like a strange upside-down version of Zenith.

Meanwhile, over by the Specialists, the guys were attempting to give Timmy girl advice.

"Just do it man," Brandon said "Just ask her if she wants to hang out this Saturday, it's no biggie."

"No biggie?," Timmy was trying to stay logical but he was inches away from freaking out completely "What if she says no? What if she laughs at me? Or what if-"

"Stop being such a coward already, it's not that hard." Riven said coldly.

"Riven," Helia scolded his friend, putting his hand on Timmy's shoulder "Some people are less confident than others."

"My confidence is fine thank you very much!," Timmy pushed Helia's hand off his shoulder, fed up with his friends thinking and expecting so little of him "You know what, Riven's right, it's about time I went and did it." He walked off in Tecna's direction.

"H-hey Tecna, I was wondering if-" A sudden bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and hit the roof of the stage. It was starting to cave in, but at the last second, Aisha conjured some of her pink substance (which Tecna now knew was called morphix) and used it to hold the roof together. The image of a man's face started to appear in-between the black clouds. Tecna knew that face. She knew that face all too well. "No," she thought "It can't be."

She started to back away.

"Greetings citizens of Magix," A malevolent voice cackled from above "My name is Imperio. I am the ruler of Zenith and the greatest sorcerer of all time! I have just escaped from the Omega Dimension and I am ready to reclaim the planet of Zenith, but there is one thing in my way. When I conquered Zenith, I made sure to eliminate the entire royal bloodline so that there would never be a true heir to the Zenithian throne. However, I have recently found out that there is one last living heir. While under attack by me, King Electronio and Queen Magnethia managed to save their only child, their precious little princess and send her to live with an ordinary family. Bring me the crown princess of Zenith and I can make you the richest person in the Magical Dimension. Bring me Tecna Titania and you will be rewarded beyond measure."

Tecna gasped as the entire crowd instantly turned and looked at her. Her head was spinning as she tried desperately to process this new information.

"Princess? I'm not a princess, I'm just a normal girl!" She thought to herself.

"There must have been a mistake," Tecna said, knowing that chaos would ensue if she couldn't convince them "I am not the princess of Zenith!"

The crowd ignored her completely.

"Well, what are we waiting for?," Amaryl smirked "Let's get her!"

Complete chaos. People shouting. Fighting. Pushing towards Tecna in an attempt to grab her and go. Tecna was frozen.

"You idiot, move, you're being so illogical!" she was internally scolding herself though she knew there was nothing she could do.

"Tecna? Tecna are you alright?," Timmy's voice sounded like a distant echo to her.

"Come on guys, we need to get out of here!"

Someone grabbed Tecna's hand and she felt herself being dragged through the crowd, into the elevator.

Tecna watched the glass box descend as the elevator went down towards the hangar. She could hear reassuring voices, she could feel hands on her shoulders and back, whisking her off towards the hangar and saying everything was going to be alright. Tecna didn't think so but she couldn't say anything.

The Winx and Specialists guided Tecna into a ship, laid her down on a cot. She simply lay there.

"Do you think she's in shock?" Someone asked.

"Well, she's had a lot to process tonight. Imperio came back, she's apparently the princess and now everyone's trying to take her to him. Not to mention everything else she's been through in the past few days. This is a natural response."

"Where should we go now?"

"There's a Company of Light safehouse underwater on Andros. I think that's the safest place for us at the moment. We can plan our next move from there."

Tecna noticed that her eyelids were getting heavy, and before she knew it she was falling into a deep sleep.

\--

Tecna's eyes opened slowly as she adjusted to the light. The events of the previous night were all a blur. She looked to her side and noticed that sitting by her bedside were Timmy, Flora and Musa.

"Tecna!," Timmy grinned "She's awake!"

"Tecna, how are you feeling?" Flora asked gently.

"Fine I guess." Tecna mumbled.

"We're currently in a safehouse on Andros. Don't worry, no one will find us here." Timmy attempted to reassure her.

"Imperio has escaped from the Omega Dimension and now the entire Magical Universe is looking for me, we need to make a plan, and fast." Tecna got up out of the bed.

"That's what were trying to do. Faragonda and Saladin should be arriving tomorrow, they'll help us formulate a plan." Timmy stated.

"Why don't we go see the others, they'll be happy to see you're awake?" Flora suggested. Tecna followed them through the safehouse, trying to comprehend what was going on.

\--

Tecna sat down, staring off into the distance. Timmy noticed that she was on her own and sat down beside her. Timmy knew what she was unhappy and he wanted to help as best he could.

"H-hey Tecna." Timmy smiled shyly.

"Hello Timmy." Tecna replied. An awkward silence ensued, with neither Tecna nor Timmy knowing what to say.

"What were you going to ask me?" Tecna asked.

"What?"

"At the ball, before Imperio came to we going to ask me something. What was it?"

"Oh...well...ummm," Timmy blushed "It's probably a stupid idea... but I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out sometime with me."

Tecna's heart skipped a beat. "He wants to hang out with me?" she thought.

"It's not a stupid idea, I'd actually really enjoy that." Tecna said.

"Really?," Timmy's eyes lit up "I mean... okay cool." Tecna couldn't help but smile at his shyness.

"Guys!," Bloom ran into the room "Faragonda and Saladin's ship crashed, the need our help!"

"Let's get to the ship, Bloom, can you get their co-ordinates?"

The group ran to their ship and prepared for yet another journey.


	6. Chapter 6: Battle in The Ravine

_Tecna was in the fifth grade. She was walking back to her classroom from the bathroom when she overheard a strange discussion between the principal and an unidentified man.__"I am very glad you came, there are some students in this school who foster some... dangerous views. Dangerous views that go against the principles of our nation."__"Very well. May I have identification?"__"The most dangerous of the group is perhaps T375C6T."__Tecna gasped. That was her identification code. She backed away from the room and ran back to her class, hoping that the man in black wouldn't find her.__School was over, and Tecna was trying to lay low. She tried to get out of school without being noticed to no avail. She started to run away but it was too late.__"Young lady, I'm going to need you to come with me." One of Imperio's goons stepped infront of her. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her roughly to a large black ship. There was a group of around fifteen children in the back, none of them older than eighteen. They must have stopped by all the schools in the area, picking out the miscreants one by one. The man pushed her inside and she sat in one of the chairs.__After a five minute trip, the ship landed outside a twelve-storey white government building. The kids were ushered inside and shown to a large room filled with metal chairs, not unlike the ones in shock chambers. The sleek iron glinted in the artificial light. Tecna could her the echoes of people's footsteps as a woman took her to one of the chairs and put two electrodes on her forehead.__There was a screen on the wall in front of them, which started to play a video of Emperor Imperio.__"Greetings young ones. As you all know, I am your emperor and supreme ruler Imperio of Zenith. You have been brought here today because you are displaying some tendencies that go against the principles of this realm. We would like to help you correct that. In a few minutes the people at the control panel will give each one of you a set of simulations. The quicker you respond correctly, the quicker you get to go home to your parents, who rest assured have all been notified of this activity. Good luck." The pictures on the screen faded into black and Tecna could hear the people at the control panel starting up the simulation program.__Tecna's world was plunged into darkness. She had no idea what to expect. She just knew she had to stay calm and logical. Tecna was put through multiple scenarios designed to make her give in and say that her radical beliefs were wrong, each one more horrifying than the next. Despite this, Tecna stayed logical and didn't give in. She knew that it was just a simulation and no one was actually threatening her, burning down her house or torturing Circutio and Neutronia. It was in the last simulation that things became the most harrowing.__Tecna found herself in an endless expanse of black. Imperio himself appeared before her, holding a laser gun.__"You know, your beliefs are most illogical. It's quite funny really." He smirked scathingly.__"What? It's only logical that Zenith isn't the only realm!" Tecna protested.__"The most logical option would be to believe what you have been told, because we are much older and wiser than you are." Imperio replied condescendingly, looking down atTecna as if from a great height.__"How do I know you're not lying?" Tecna folded her arms stubbornly.__"Well then, I leave you with no choice." Imperio raised his laser gun solemnly and pulled the trigger, sending a blast of green light towards Tecna's heart. Tecna stumbled backwards and doubled over. She gasped and dropped to the ground, then screamed as a ferocious pain ripped through every fibre of her being. She could feel the energy from the laser blast searing through her veins like a blade ripping through her skin. Tears of pain escaped her eyes as she lay on the ground, clutching her chest.__"Fine," She coughed, nearly choking on her own blood "You win. I'm wrong."__Just like that, she was back to reality. The light of the simulation room shined into her unadjusted eyes. As her eyes got used to the lighting, she noticed that she was the only kid left in the room.__"Get up," One of Imperio's employees said gruffly "We've been waiting for you for hours."_

Tecna sat at the control panel of the Owl, silently pressing the touchscreen to enter Faragonda and Saladin's co-ordinates. Meanwhile, Timmy was working on the main computer, rewiring some of the circuits and doing adding some minor upgrades to the mechanics.

"Okay, we're good to go!," Timmy stepped back from the mainframe, admiring his handiwork "I've installed a new engine, now we'll be able to fly 30% faster then we could before." He walked over to the control panel briskly, itching to test out the new mechanics

"I've entered the co-ordinates, Faragonda and Saladin are approximately 20.65 kilometres away." Tecna said. Timmy sat down in the chair next to her and fired up the engine. He glanced at her momentarily, her incredible beauty clouded by a sense of unease.

The Winx and Specialists had nearly reached their destination when they felt something slam into the side of the Owl. The entire body of the ship jerked violently to the right, sending everyone flying to the side of the ship. Tecna could feel the Owl plummeting downwards as nearly everyone started to scream. With an echoing crash and a bumpy landing, they hit the bottom of a ravine.

Tecna immediately noted that everyone, including herself, was lying on top of each other in a massive pile in some rather uncomfortable positions. She looked up and realised that she was lying underneath a flustered-looking Timmy. They made eye contact and he jumped up straight away, realising the awkward placement of his body.

"Sorry! It was an accident, I didn't mean to!" Timmy stammered, his cheeks becoming a deep shade of crimson.

"It's fine." Tecna didn't understand why he was so unsettled.

Slowly everyone started to get up, but they averted their attention when they heard muffled voices coming from outside the ships.

"I knew I heard a crash from over here. How curious, another crashed ship with the exact same design."

"I recognise that ship. It was the one in which those ruffians travelled to Zenith and took my territory away from me!"

Tecna drew in a sharp breath. She knew the harsh tones of that voice. Imperio.

"Ruffians? How dare he?!" Stella was clearly appalled. No one calls the princess of Solaria a ruffian.

"Shhhh! That's Imperio," Timmy whispered "Let's wait until he's gone."

"Not so fast!," Musa hissed "I want an explanation and I want one right now. If we confront him now we'll get one, plus we might be able to take him down."

"I agree.," Aisha said "He deserves to get his butt kicked after what he's done."

"If I remember correctly, he kicked our butts the last time, and if it weren't for the remaining Company of Light members showing up at the right time, we wouldn't have lived to tell the tale!" Timmy tried to reason with the (in his opinion) overzealous fairies.

"Yeah, but now we have Tecna." Bloom stated.

Timmy sighed. Why was it that his comrades always seemed to choose the most illogical strategy? Before he could stop them, the girls were already transforming into their fairy forms. Riven opened the hatch of the ship and they flew out. Imperio simply chuckled.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the very meddlers I was just talking about, accompanied by the lost princess of Zenith herself. Now I have you all right where I want you." He smiled malevolently "Another ship just like yours belonging to a couple of senile old fools passed through the ravine today, I sent them your regards." He was clearly referencing Faragonda and Saladin.

"Give it up Imperio." Tecna stepped forward bravely.

"That's no way to speak to your emperor!" Imperio said.

"You are not, and never were my emperor," Tecna replied "Static sphere!" She sent a powerful ball of energy whizzing towards Imperio, but he dodged it as if it were nothing.

"So much power, but oh so predictable." He laughed and fired a forceful dark spell at her, sending her falling to the ground.

"Tecna!" Timmy ran over to her, Musa following close behind.

"Tecna, you need to use your instinct. Focusing on logic makes you too predictable!" Musa exclaimed.

Tecna ignored her advice and stood up silently, trembling slightly from Imperio's attack. How would letting go of logic help anything?

"Wire beam!" Tecna attacked again, but Imperio formed an energy shield. Tecna's attack ricocheted off the shield and flew back at her, hitting her square in the head. She fell to the ground instantly. Tecna tried to get up again, but she stumbled back down again due to extreme dizziness.

"Electric cage!" Tecna tried weakly to trap him within a digital imprisonment but Imperio deftly sidestepped out of the way.

"I've wasted enough time here," Imperio laughed "Taking over Zenith is going to be a piece of cake knowing that it's precious princess can't even defend herself, let alone an entire realm. My work here is done." He tapped the screen on a smart watch he was wearing, then teleported away in a flash of green light.

"Darn it, he got away!," Riven snarled, striking a rock with his sword to release anger. He glared at Tecna "It's not that damn hard to let go of your stupid logic!"

"Riven!" Timmy could feel himself getting angry.

"I've been raised that way my whole life, I don't even know how to use instinct." Tecna stood up slowly.

"It's real simple, you just do whatever you feel is right." Stella advised.

"Well it's not that simple for me!" Tecna was getting frustrated.

"Well then leave!," Riven retorted "Imperio's right, how are you going to defend Zenith if you can't even defend yourself! We don't need dead weight on our team!"

"Fine!," Tecna said "If you want me to go, then I guess this is goodbye. I should have known that it was illogical to trust you all."

Tecna started to walk in the opposite direction and didn't look back. It was best to trust no one. Relying on others just hurts everyone.

"Tecna wait!," Timmy ran to catch up with her "Don't leave, Riven didn't mean it!"

"Forget it Timmy. I'm better off on my own and you're better off without me. " Tecna replied coldly.

"No, we need you in our group! We like being around you, plus how else are we going to liberate Zenith?!" Timmy pleaded. He was not going to lose her, he would not let such and enigmatic epitome of perfection slip through his fingers.

"Is that all I'm useful for?," Tecna asked "You guys were just using me to get to Zenith?"

"Darn it!," Timmy cursed under his breath "I didn't mean it that way, please!" He grabbed her wrist desperately.

Tecna tensed up. Timmy was really starting to irritate her.

"Let go of me!," She jerked her wrist out of his grasp "I'm leaving, don't even try follow me." She walked off, leaving a dejected and heartbroken Timmy behind her. Her harsh words had left him speechless. It felt as if she had smashed his heart into a million pieces.

"What have I done." Timmy dropped to his knees, lamenting the loss of the girl he loved.


	7. Chapter 7: Lost and Found

Tecna walked down the rocky path through the steep ravine, leaving the Winx and the Specialists in her wake. Surrounded by an ominous silence, she was completely alone with her thoughts for the first time since she came to Magix.

"I should have known not to trust them." Tecna sighed, opening up her palmtop to get a GPS signal.

\--

"Guys, we have no time to lose, we need to go find Tecna!" Timmy was unusually agitated, and it was no secret that Tecna's departure was causing his irregular mood.

"Stop acting like it's our fault, how delusional are you?," Riven retorted angrily, glaring at the anxious red-haired Specialist "You're the one who made her think we were using her."

"You're the one who got mad at her for letting Imperio get away!" Timmy snapped.

"Riven does have a point Timmy," Stella said "You shouldn't have tried to convince her to stay, that only made her more insistent on leaving."

"What, so it's my fault for not wanting her to go off into a dangerous ravine on her own?!" Timmy exclaimed, gesturing madly with his hands.

"Hey," Brandon stepped in front of his girlfriend protectively "If you're angry then keep it to yourself. Don't take it out on my Stella."

"Have we forgotten who's the one with anger issues here?!," Timmy pointed incredulously towards Riven "I'm simply appalled that you refuse to do anything about Tecna's departure and now you're blaming me!"

"Guys!," Bloom interjected sharply "Can't you see, this is what Imperio wants! By arguing and dividing ourselves we're playing right into his hands. Timmy, you're right, we should have done something. While Timmy didn't go about it in the right way, he still tried harder than any of the rest of us. We need a plan, and we need one now, so let's not waste any more time arguing and let's get to work."

\--

Tecna had been walking for what felt like hours and she was starting to become increasingly weak. She had already taken the brunt of Imperio's attack and that combined with the long walk in the hot sun was making Tecna exhausted. In the hazy distance she could make out what looked like a ship, not unlike the one the Specialists had. Regardless of her fatigue, she kept going relentlessly. Her legs were quivering and her vision was getting increasingly fuzzy. She felt an overwhelming sense of diziness, most likely from dehydration, and dropped to the ground. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was two vaguely familiar figures bending over her.

\--

When Tecna woke she was lying in a sleeping bag on the floor of what she assumed to be the ship she saw earlier.

She looked around, carefully scanning her surroundings. She noticed a bespectacled woman in purple stand up from a chair in the corner.

"Faragonda? What are you doing here?" Tecna sat up, momentarily blinded by the artificial light from above her.

"Saladin and I were on our way to the safehouse when Imperio's army shot down our ship and we crash landed in this ravine. We used a spell to conceal our whereabouts from Imperio and his folllwers, yet keep it visible to everyone else so that hopefully the others would find us. Say, why are you out here on your own Tecna? It's not safe for you to be out here on your own."

"Imperio's army struck down our ship and the others made the decision to attack him. We got separated just after the battle." Tecna wasn't telling the full truth, granted it wasn't a lie either.

"Well then, we must contact them. You surely have some form of communicator device with you?" Faragonda said.

"I do." Tecna looked at the floor. It looked like separating herself from the Winx and their boyfriends wasn't going to be so easy.

\--

Timmy was sitting glumly behind the wreckage of their ship when he heard a beeping noise coming from his communicator. He reached for it groggily and to his delight, he found a recent message from a certain technology fairy.

"Guys!," He jumped to his feet like an excited puppy "I just got a message from Tecna! She's ok! She's with Faragonda and Saladin!"

"Where are they?" Musa ran over to him quickly.

"I managed to locate the source of her transmission, we need to head due north." Timmy analysed the data he transferred from the communicator to the palmtop.

The group of fairies and specialists slowly got to their feet and began to head north, a new sense of hope fuelling their tired bodies.

The Winx and the Specialists had been walking for about half an hour when they heard an ominous rumbling sound from above. At first they thought nothing of it but it repeated again and again, louder every time.

"What was that?" Flora asked worriedly, grabbing Helia's arm nervously.

Before the others had time to answer, rocks started to tumble down from the sides of the ravine.

"Landslide! Take cover" Everyone scrambled for cover, but unfortunately there was nowhere to hide in the vast open expanse of rock.

With a loud crack, a large boulder started to plummet towards the ground. The group of heroes screamed, one half running around frantically, the other half frozen in fear. Just when they thought they were completely done for, the boulder smashed into smithereens, revealing a farmiliar elderly woman in purple.

"Headmistress Faragonda!" Bloom ran over to her with the others in tow.

"Winx! It's great to see you all. Imperio struck down our ship on the way to the safehouse, we had no way of contacting you but when Tecna came she sent a transmission with one of her gadgets." Faragonda explain. The aforementioned magenta-haired fairy stepped out from the shadows. She didn't make eye contact with any of the fairies or the specialists.

"It is wonderful that you managed to find us, but the question is how are we going to get out of here." Saladin added.

"If you had enough spare parts I could make an interdimensional gateway." Timmy suggested.

"An interdominos whatty what?" Stella looked rather confused.

"A teleporter Stella. He means a teleporter." Musa sighed.

"Well why didn't he just say teleporter then?" Stella deadpanned.

"Great idea Timmy. I'm sure Tecna will be able to help. Why don't you two get started?" Faragonda said, ignoring Stella's remark.

Timmy and Tecna were seated inside Faragonda and Saladin's ship around a heap of spare parts and tools. The awkwardness in the air was overpowering and both parties were waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Tecna...," Timmy trailed off. He had an idea of what he wanted to say, he just had no idea how to say it "I-I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to hurt you. I worded what I said earlier really wrong, but I didn't mean it in the way you thought I did...I was just trying to stop you from leaving." He started to fidget with his hands.

"Why do you like hanging out with me?" Tecna was genuinely curious as to why he liked to talk to her so much.

"Well... you're interesting to talk to, and we have a lot in common." He started to blush. Tecna tried to think about things logically. He did go out of his way to talk to her a lot. And he set up his telescope just for her that night at Lake Roccaluce. He did appear to be quite awkward, so him wording something wrong would make sense. Tecna wasn't a trusting person, but there was something inexplicably compelling about him. For some unknown reason, she felt like she could trust him. After some internal deliberation, Tecna decided to give him another chance.

"I like talking to you too." Tecna replied simply.

"Really?," Timmy couldn't stop himself from grinning "The others say I talk about technology too much and I tend to ramble-," he stopped himself "Thanks, I guess."

\--

The two tecno-nerds had been working on the teleporter for almost two hours, it was a lengthy process, and a difficult one too. Both Tecna and Timmy were starting to get tired. The ginger-haired specialist stretched and let out a yawn as Tecna continued to tinker with one of the many circuits. They had assembled and programmed the whole thing, but for some reason they couldn't get the damned thing to work.

Tecna was replacing a diode when suddenly, she had a brainwave.

"Wait," Her eyes lit up. She knew what she had to do "If I put these LEDs in parallel and I reverse the flow of the circuit, then if I reconnect it to the mainframe and switch around a couple wires...," She completed these tasks and the teleporter started to hum into life "Tada!" She couldn't help but smile. Even back on Zenith, she couldn't complete an invention without experiencing a satisfying sense of accomplishment.

"Tecna, you're a genius!" Timmy grinned from ear to ear and practically threw his arms around her without thinking about it as he pulled her into a massive hug. As first Tecna tensed up, but his happiness was contagious and she relaxed.

A few seconds later, Timmy realised what he had just done and broke apart from the short-haired fairy shyly.

"What's up you guys?," Musa stepped into the room "I heard something, is the interdimensional portal working?"

"It sure is!," Timmy smiled.

"Woohoo! Guys, the interdoohickey is ready!" Stella summoned the others, who rushed into the room promptly.

"Alright," Tecna said "I'm powering it up now." She turned the device on, creating an elliptical portal before them. She then keyed in the co-ordinates of the safehouse.

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go!" Musa smiled. One by one, the group filed through the gateway. Little did they know, there was a nasty surprise waiting for them.


	8. Chapter 8: Mounting Tension

Tecna felt a strange fizzing sensation surround her as she was enveloped by the energy of the interdimensional gateway. With flash of light, she found herself on the other side. An unpleasant surprise greeted her. She was at least fifty feet underwater, pieces of rubble floating in the now murky water. The Andros safehouse had been destroyed.

Tecna tried desperately to move somehow, but it was no use. She had never been taught how to swim. The others were swimming upwards, not noticing her fruitless struggle. As Aisha materialised from the gateway, she met Tecna's eyes and swam over to her instantly, her lithe figure cutting through the water effortlessly. Tecna could feel a burning sensation in her chest, she needed to breathe, but she couldn't. She opened her mouth desperately and ended up choking on the salty water. Aisha grabbed her arm hastily and pulled her upwards towards the surface.

As she broke through the surface, Tecna gasped and inhaled in relief, taking in air at long last.

"Tecna! Aisha!," Bloom swam over to them. Fortunately, the whole group had made it and was treading water in a circle.

"I swear to Magix, the one time Stella doesn't bring her magic ring." Riven grumbled, holding on to Musa's arm.

"What will we do know?," Stella asked worriedly "We have no safehouse and the water is c-cold."

Suddenly, a mysterious figure emerged from the depths.

"Cousin Tressa!" Aisha grinned and embraced the person before them, a young mermaid with auburn hair in a ponytail.

"Aisha! It's so great to see you!," Tressa smiled warmly "What are you guys doing out here?"

"We've been in hiding in the safehouse for the last few days and this morning we left to go on a mission, but while we were gone the safehouse was destroyed, and now we're stranded here!" Aisha explained.

"Andros has the biggest oceans in the whole Magical Dimension, what will we do!," Stella wailed, then turned to Brandon "Honey, is my makeup coming off?"

"Not at all Stella." He reassured her.

"Now's not the time to be worrying about makeup Stella," Musa sighed "Tressa, do you think you could show us the way back to land?"

"I could, but it's a really long distance." She said.

"No problem, my morphix can take care of that." Aisha raised her hands and conjured seven morphix rafts. Immediately everyone paired up and jumped up onto to rafts.

Tecna hopped onto the nearest raft and grabbed an oar. Moments later, Timmy scrambled up next to her. He took off his fogged-up glasses and wiped them on the hem of his shirt, which didn't help matters as it was soaking wet.

"Let me try." Tecna took the red-rimmed spectacles from his hand and used magic to clear them, then promptly gave them back to him.

"Thanks Tecna." He smiled.

"No problem Timmy." Tecna replied and started to row.

The group started to row forwards, with Tressa leading the way. After a whole exhausting hour, they finally reached land. The tired fairies and Specialists got out of their boats groggily.

"Thanks Tressa!" Aisha waved to her cousin.

"No problem Aisha!" They all exhanged their goodbyes as Tressa dived back into the sea.

"Follow me guys," Aisha beckoned to the others "I'm sure my parents will let us stay in the castle tonight."

After finally reaching the royal palace of Andros, everyone finally got the chance to sleep. Tecna wound up sharing a room with Flora. The two girls went straight to bed and fell asleep almost immediately after a most tiring day.

* * *

Tecna woke up the following morning at exactly 8:01 AM. She got dressed and headed downstairs, where most of the group was having breakfast. Eventually, when the whole group were out of bed, they came together to strategise.

"Tecna," Ms. Faragonda called the magenta-haired fairy "May I speak to you for a moment?"

Tecna nodded and followed the elderly lady to a secluded alcove in the next room.

"Tecna, I've been trying to find out more about Imperio's takeover of Zenith and I came across an... interesting development. You see, when Imperio first claimed the throne to Zenith, he meant to kill the whole royal family to eliminate the regal bloodline. However, just before Imperio reached Databridge Castle, your parents snuck out of the castle to bring you to Circutio and Neutronio, the former being their most respected general. On their way back to the castle, they were kidnapped by bounty hunters and brought on board a ship bound for a remote planet in the outer rim of the Magical Dimension. In the middle of the journey, the ship was hit by an asteroid, sending it into a wormhole which led to the Omega Dimension. Tecna, this could be the key to defeating Imperio. It is possible that your birth parents are, in fact, alive."

* * *

A/N: So this is a pretty short chapter, and the previous one was pretty boring because I got writer's block, but don't worry, the next chapter will make up for that with plenty of action.


	9. Chapter 9: Into the Omega

Tecna and Timmy sat at the control panels and started up the engine of a brand-new ship. The two had taken to piloting the Owl together before it was totalled, and now that they had a new ship that was granted to them by Teredor and Niobe, it was inevitable that the usual status quo would remain intact.

Tecna knew it was illogical, but she was apprehensive about the mission ahead. If they were successful, then she would finally get to be with her biological parents. The outcome could make or break her future. Deep down, Tecna couldn't help but feel inferior to the other fairies. They all had such amazing power and courage that Tecna felt weak in comparison. She didn't even have her Enchantix powers yet, and she knew that without them, the odds of defeating Imperio were next to none.

'Ok, the engines powered up and ready to go.' Timmy said.

'I just set up the navigation, it has the most GPS technology in the Magical Dimension!' The fluorescent screens and flickering lights provided Tecna with a distraction from the risky mission they were about to undergo, and its connotations. It was the one thing that she was able to stay in control of over the course of the past week.

'Great! Is everyone strapped in?,' Timmy asked, surveyed the motley crew that made up the passengers of the ship. His question was met with a few muttered affirmations 'Ok then. Tecna, is the hyperdrive warmed up?'

'One second, I'm running a few tests to determine its functionality,' Tecna watched the bright control panel as percentages and charts began to appear on the screen 'The hyperdrive is fully calibrated and ready for take-off.'

'Alright, I'm going to hit the hyperdrive! Hold on tight everyone!' Without further ado, Timmy raised his hand and pressed a large red button next to his seat. Suddenly, the ship accelerated from a state of motionlessness to what felt like hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. The hair on the back of Tecna's neck stood on end as kinetic energy fizzed in the air around them. She felt weightless, almost dizzy. They were moving forward at such an intense speed that Tecna couldn't move her head off her seat.The jump into hyperspace was something she had never experienced before, and she wasn't sure if she liked it. These conditions remaimed for about for about two minutes. With an abrupt jolt, then a near-complete stop, the ship jumped out of hyperspace.

'Ugh, remind me to use the interdinner portal thingy instead next time.' Stella groaned, a slight green tint clouding her usually tanned complexion.

'You can say that again.' Flora sighed, sinking into Helia's arms. The group stood up slowly, stretching groggily.

'What were you going to ask me that night at the ball?' Tecna asked Timmy, startling him slightly.

'I...,' His glasses were slightly askew and his face was a tad pale 'I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out some time with me. Together. Just the two of us.' Timmy started to fidget with his hands.

Tecna could feel a light blush creep across her face. If she was being honest with herself, she was thrilled at his offer, but she knew she couldn't get her hopes up.

'Well, if your offer still stands,' Tecna looked at the floor 'I'd like that a lot.'

'That's great!,'Timmy grinned 'I-I mean I would like that too." Tecna simply smiled and continued working on the control panel. Upon the realisation that they had finally reached the Omega Dimension, Timmy activated the brakes, bringing the ship to a grinding halt.

'We're here!' Timmy and Tecna stood up from the control panel and high fived, a gesture that Musa had taught her while they were camping.

'So Mainframe, what's the plan?' Sky asked. Tecna took a digital map of the Omega Dimension.

'Judging by the research and data we've gathered on what Tecna's parents did on the day Imperio took over and how they travelled here, it is most likely that they are here, in the Inner Quadrant," Timmy pointed to a location on the map "We are currently here, about two miles away from out destination. Luckily we have the wind riders, so it should only take a couple minutes to get there. We will decide on further action when we get to the Inner Quadrant. Any questions?' Everyone remained silent.

'Ok then, let's get going.' Everyone got up immediately and headed out the hatch into the freezing, barren caverns that awaited them.

'Brrrrrr,' Stella said 'It sure is freezing here. The cold is _so _not good for my skin.'

'Yeah, and we're not exactly dressed for it either.' Musa looked down at her sleeveless top and baggy jeans.

'You can say that again. I think a bit of a change is in order.' With a wave of her hand, Stella used her magic to swap out everyone's clothes in favour of warm snowsuits.

'Thanks Stell! Now that we're more appropriately dressed, I'll go get the wind riders from the cargo hold.' Brandon and the other Specialists each grabbed a wind rider and brought them out of the cargo hold. They each put on their helmets and mounted their bikes.

'Well what are you waiting for,' Sky smiled 'Jump on.'

Tecna walked over to Timmy and jumped on the back of his wind rider. She lifted her hands and awkwardly put her arms around him.

'Alright Specialists, let's go!' The boys (and Aisha, since Nabu let her drive) powered up their bikes and sped through the caverns. Everything seemed to be going fine until suddenly, Timmy lost control of his wind rider, sending it careening into a huge stalagmite. Him and Tecna both fell to the ground on impact.

'Tecna, are you alright?,' Said technology fairy wasn't wearing a helmet, she didn't have one 'You're bleeding!'

Tecna raised her hand up to her face and noticed that there was indeed a large gash on her forehead.

'You guys go ahead,' Timmy handed Brandon a digital map of the area 'We'll catch up.'

'Are you sure?' Brandon scratched his head 'It's pretty dangerous out here bud.'

'We'll be fine, just go.' Timmy insisted. The others got back on their bikes and rode off into the distance.

'Tecna, are you ok? Does it hurt?' Timmy sat down next to her.

'I'm fine, we need to keep going.' Tecna stood up and took out her palmtop to look at the map, but it was no use, the program went haywire, rendering the map illegible.

'I guess we're going to have to figure it out ourselves. Did you see what direction they were heading in?' Timmy tried to ask her a question but she wasn't listening. She could hear a mysterious voice calling her.

'Tecna, come find us, hurry. We don't have much time left.'

'But I don't know where you are! I can't see you!'

'Tecna, you need to remember.'

'I don't remember, I don't even know who you are!'

'Tecna what are you doing? Who are you

talking to?' Timmmy grabbed her arm, snapping her out of her trance.

'That voice... it sounds farmiliar.' Tecna mused.

'Tecna, we really need to get going.' Timmy pleaded.

'Timmy, that voice may have all the answers. What if it's trying to guide me, what if it wants me to follow it?' Tecna insisted.

'What voice?I can't hear anything. Hearing voices is never a good thing, especially in a place like this.' Timmy said.

'Timmy, please.' Tecna looked him in the eyes.

'Ok, but we'll need to be quick, the others are waiting for us.' Timmy said, taking his plasma gun out of his pocket. Tecna led him into one of the many tunnels, following the direction from which the mysterious voice came from. She continued walking, then stopped before a glistening lake. The crystal-clear water reflected the light from the icicles, illuminating the cavern. The water was so pristine that Tecna could see her reflection as if it were a mirror. She could feel a strong magic energy, and she was determined to find out what it was. Tecna reached down and dipped her finger in the water, causing ripples to fan out across it. Slowly, pictures started to form on the surface.

A man and a woman appeared. Both were wearing elaborate geometric outfits and sported large crowns. The woman had long blue hair. The man had purple hair and a meticulously trimmed mustache.

Their faces looked kind and friendly, but they also radiated an air of intelligence and rationality. The woman smiled up at Tecna with an almost bittersweet expression, and it finally dawned on her. These people were her parents.

'Mom... Dad.' A single tear fell down Tecna's cheek. She was enraptured, almost in a trance. After all these years, she had finally found her true family. Timmy kneeled down next to her and put her hand on her shoulder. Tecna's mother raised her left hand upwards and her father followed suit, as if trying to reach up for Tecna. Tecna gently placed both her hands on the water, making their hands meet. Though she couldn't feel anything physically, the gesture made her feel a sense of safety, like everything was going to be alright.

'Clever, isn't it,' A condescending male voice cackled from behind them 'By merging your parents' magical essence with that of the lake, I have trapped them inside it for eternity.'

'You're going to pay for this!,' Tecna turned around, pure rage flowing through her veins. She didn't usually get angry easily, but she would not let Imperio keep her family away from her any longer 'Tecna Magic Winx! Charmix Power!'

With a flash of blinding light, Tecna transformed into her fairy form, ready for battle once again.

'This is going to be fun,' Imperio chuckled 'I already have your movements mapped out in my brain, this is going to be a piece of cake.'

'H-hey you! Don't come any closer! If you hurt her... I-I'll kill you!' Timmy stood up, furiously wielding his plasma gun.

'Oh, how sweet,' Imperio smirked 'Young love truly is so... heartwarming.' He sent a dark spell flying towards the ginger-haired Specialist, sticking him to the cave wall.

'Don't hurt him!,' Tecna yelled 'Digital cage!'

She attempted to trap him, but it was no use.

'You know, targeting you is getting a bit... boring,' Imperio already had a diabolical scheme forming in his head 'I think I'll try your parents instead.'

' ,' Imperio started to recite an incantion ' !' A massive shockwave cut through the air. Contained within a ball of magical energy, Tecna's parents rose from the surface of the lake.

'Tecna!,' Magenthia's eyes started to water 'You found us!'

'We're so proud of you Tecna.' Electronio smiled earnestly.

'Mom! Dad!' Tecna flew over to them 'I'll get you out of there, I promise!'

'Don't make promises you can't keep.' Imperio said scathingly. With a flick of his hand, he sent a plasma sphere flying at Tecna. She dodged it, filled with a newfound sense of hope.

'You'll never win Imperio!,' Tecna freed Timmy from the dark spell that contained him. She needed to focus. In order to defeat Imperio, Tecna needed to let go of logic and let instinct take over. 'Electric beam!'

Tecna's spell hit him square in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

'Stay back!,' Imperio faced Tecna's parents 'Hmmmm, I think I'll have fun with you two.' He conjured a sphere of dark technomagic and fired it at the magic orb Magnethia and Electronio were contained in. They both screamed in pain and dropped to the floor in agony, feeling the dark magic flowing through their veins.

'No!' Tecna screamed. She needed to save them, but how?

'How about I strike again?,' Imperio said 'Or shall I make this more fun by throwing your little friend into the mix?' Using hihis magic, Imperio levitated Timmy, sending him into the same sphere that Magnethia and Electronio were trapped in.

'Data Swarm!' Imperio raised his hands forcefully and brought them down, sending a powerful dark spell flying towards the sphere. Tecna had to do something, she couldn't let Imperio's spell hit them. At the last moment, she flew in front of the orb, absorbing every drop of negative energy in the spell, feeling the burning poison destroy her body from the inside out.


	10. Chapter 10: The Inner Quadrant

'Tecna! No!' Timmy could only watch as the girl he loved plummeted to the ground, landing with a sickening crack.

'Tecna!,' Magnethia screamed 'No!'

Electronio simply stayed silent and placed a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder. They had finally found their beloved, only daughter, but she had been taken away from them once more before they had time to rejoice.

'Well, it doesn't look like I have a use for any of you anymore, I suppose I'll let you go,' Imperio waved his hand, making the orb Timmy, Magnethia and Electronio were in disappear into thin air. All three suffered a nasty fall, but that was the least of their concerns.

'Oh Tecna,' Timmy could feel his eyes welling up with tears 'If only I had the chance to tell you how I feel...' Magnethia cried bitter, despondent tears, even Electronio couldn't hold back his disappointment.

Everyone stayed silent, at a complete loss for words. Tecna traded her own life for theirs, and that was something that none of them could accept. Just when it felt as if everything was lost, Tecna's lifeless body started to emit a blinding light and levitate into the air.

'No!,' Imperio said 'It can't be!'

A flash of magical light surrounded them, and moments a later, Tecna appeared, more full of life than ever. Her hair had lengthened and she was wearing a purple two-piece outfit with yellow accents and matching sandals. A pair of sparkling purple wings sprouted from her back. By sacrificing her life to save her parents and Timmy, she had earned her Enchantix power.

Tecna immediately flew down to the ground.

'Mom! Dad! Timmy!' Magnethia and Electronio ran over immediately and pulled her into a massive hug.

'Oh Tecna,' Magnethia was overjoyed to see her daughter alive and stronger than ever 'We've missed you so much.'

'Yes, in fact, 99% of our time her has been spent waiting to be reunited with you.' Electronio added.

'I missed you too.' Tecna smiled and broke apart from the hug, facing Timmy.

Timmy was in a state of absolute awe as Tecna walked towards him. She had always been beautiful, but in her Enchantix form, she was on a whole new level of beauty. In his eyes she was a radiant goddess. Little did he know, she heard everything he said after Imperio struck her with his magic.

'Tecna! You're alive!' Timmy ran over to her and threw her arms around her. Tecna simply smiled, then turned to face Imperio.

\--

Tecna didn't know what happened. In that single, fleeting moment, her emotions took over and her logic shut down. She was overwhelmed by a strange, unknown feeling. When her parents' and Timmy's lives were at risk, she felt ready to give up everything just to keep them from harm, despite the fact that deep down she knew that it was ultimately an illogical move. For the first time in her life, she genuinely felt connected to someone, she really felt like she belonged with all three people she risked everything to save. It was that raw emotion that caused her to finally let go of logic in that crucial moment. Embracing emotion was the very reason that Electronio, Magnethia and Timmy were still alive. It was what gave her courage to put her life at stake to save them.

\--

'It ends here Imperio!' Tecna flew upwards, meeting Imperio about ten feet off the ground 'Electric storm!' She felt power flowing through her veins like never before, the energy filling her up and pouring out of her fingertips. Now that she had earned her Enchantix and last, and that successfully balanced her logic and her emotions to do so, Tecna felt unstoppable.

Imperio was knocked out of the sky by the sheer force of Tecna's blast, falling to the rocky ground below. He lifted a quivering hand, trying to muster up some strength despite the fact that even he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

'If I can't fight you myself I guess I'll nedd to find myself some... recruits.' Imperio's mouth formed an evil grin. He raised his hands and cast a spell. Negative energy flowed from him towards Timmy, Magnethia and Electronio. The dark spell clouded their eyes and took over their minds. With a robotic lurch, all three turned to face Tecna. Timmy lifted his hand and sent a sphere of dark matter spiralling towards Tecna. She blocked it with a quick energy shield.

'Timmy, it's me Tecna!' Tecna tried to reason with him, but she knew it was no use. Her loved ones were being turned against her and there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do was watch as the people who cared about her turn into cold, unfeeling monsters, leaving her alone as could be.

'Tecna!,' The aforementioned technology fairy turned around to see Bloom fly into the cavern, with the other Winx members close behind her. 'You earned your Enchantix!' Tecna was distracted for a brief moment, allowing Magnethia to take the opportunity and sneak up behind Tecna. There was a glint of evil in her red eyes as she fired a powerful spell at Tecna, knocking her out of the sky.

'Tecna! Use the fairy dust!,' Musa yelled 'It's in the pendant around your neck, use it to reverse the spell!' Tecna grasped the elliptical pendant between her fingers. Her form started to glow as she opened the top of the pendant and sprinkled a sparkling green powder onto her parents and Timmy, causing the dark magic to drift out of them like wind. All three fell to the floor, confused as to what had just happened.

'W-what happened?' Timmy sat up groggily.

'Pesky fairies!,' Imperio snarled 'Union of darkness!' Imperio raised both hands and started to draw negative energy from the ground up into his hands, absorbing it's power. He shaped the energy into a ball and fired it at Tecna. She plummeted down to the rocky ground and landed with a sickening thud.

'Uh oh,' Aisha said. The walls of the cave were starting to shake 'I think this cavern's gonna cave in.'

'Imperio must have upset the balance by drawing out the negative energy!,' Bloom gasped 'We need to get out of here!'

The girls flew out of the cave immediately. Tecna created a digital cage around Timmy and her parents and used it to get them out. Imperio on the other hand, was greatly weakened from using such a powerful spell. He dropped to his knees as the structure of the cave collapsed onto him.

The girls escaped from the falling cavern, and rendesvoused with the Specialists back at the ship. Tecna lowered her parents and Timmy down to the ground and released them from the cage.

'Tecna!' Before she had time to look over her shoulder, she could feel the Winx pull her into a bone-crushing group hug.

'You earned your Enchantix! We're so happy for you!' Bloom grinned earnestly.

'So,' Stella said 'How did it happen?'

'Well, before I explain, I think I must introduce you to my parents, Magnethia and Electronio!' Tecna beckoned her parents, who stepped forward to meet the Winx.

'Good day, girls,' Magnethia said 'It is most wonderful to make your acquaintance.'

'Who's this young man from the cave?,' Electronio pulled Timmy forwards 'He's not your boyfriend is he?' Timmy could feel his cheeks heating up, knowing that he probably looked like a bright red tomato despite the freezing temperatures.

'No Dad, he's not my boyfriend,' Tecna laughed in an attempt to cover up her awkwardness 'He's a specialist from Red Fountain, his name is Timmy.'

'Enough of the formalities, how about we go back to Andros and celebrate!' Stella declared excitedly.

'I couldn't agree more,' Brandon put an arm around her 'Come on Mainframe, let's get this show on the road!'

\--

With the whole crew seated and strapped in, Timmy hit the hyperdrive. Tecna, who was already weak, got extremely dizzy during the unpleasant two minutes that followed. Luckily the feeling eased not long after they jumped out of hyperspace. Before she knew it, they were approaching the Andros palace.

\--

Now that they had finally arrived back at the palace, the Winx Club and the Specialists finally had time to celebrate. They all got changed and went straight to Aisha's huge bedroom, where Musa had already set up a simple sound system to play some music. Tecna borrowed a green dress from Stella, who had naturally packed her entire wardrobe before leaving Magix. Everyone was laughing, dancing and just generally enjoying themselves, but Tecna was certain that things wouldn't remain peaceful for long. Deep down she knew that she should be happy, after all, she earned her Enchantix power, liberated her parents and defeated Imperio in battle. But something just didn't feel right. She knew that Imperio would come back and that the stakes would be even higher. She knew that she wouldn't be able to relax for long.

\--


	11. Chapter 11: Return to Alfea

Tecna packed her bag and briskly walked down the grand staircase, ready to return to Magix after a long, hard mission. Tecna and the Winx Club had gotten the all-clear to return to Alfea from Faragonda herself, as the school had been placed under heightened security measures and was acting as a safe-house, as was Red Fountain. Tecna met the girls out in the hangar, where Timmy and the specialists had their ship fully prepped for take-off. Tecna sat down at the control panel next to Timmy as usual.

'Hi Tecna!' Timmy greeted the magenta-haired fairy.

'Hey Timmy,' Tecna replied 'Is the ship ready to go?'

'Sure is, we were just waiting for you guys. Close the hatch Riven!' Riven pressed a button, causing a faint beeping noise to fill the air and the door the close. Before long, they were up in the air.

Tecna and the Winx Club stepped out of the ship through the gates to the Alfea College For Fairies. They were greeted by the usual noisy hubbub of young fairies, and a couple curious stares.

'Hello girls,' Faragonda's kind face entered Tecna's peripheral vision, along with Grizelda's slightly more menacing one 'I'm glad to see you made it back safely.'

'Ms. Faragonda! We have so much to tell you!' Bloom grinned.

'Well then by all means go ahead, let's go back to my office.' Faragonda said.

'Well, I guess this is goodbye.' Sky turned to Bloom. As all the other girls made their way over to their boyfriends, Tecna found herself drifting over to Timmy.

'Bye Timmy.' She said shyly.

Caught up in the moment, Timmy took her hands in his abruptly yet gently. He gazed into her bright, curious, teal eyes longingly, almost as if he wanted to tell her something.

'Hey Timster!,' Brandon snapped him out of his daze 'Are we going or what?'

'Sorry,' Timmy mumbled as he let go of Tecna's hands 'B-bye Tecna!' He ran off to the ship, where the other specialists were waiting for him.

Tecna stood still, staring at the spot that Timmy was standing at a few short seconds ago. What did that mean?

'Hey Tecna,' Bloom beckoned her 'You coming?' The rest of the girls were already following Faragonda to her office. Tecna nodded and joined the group.

'Then Tecna and Timmy crashed and told us to go on ahead without them. We were waiting for them for a while, so we decided to go back in case they were in trouble, and when we came back, Tecna had earned her Enchantix.' Bloom finished explaining her side of the story.

'Well, it sure is great that you earned your Enchantix Tecna, this could be the key to defeating Imperio,' Faragonda nodded in Tecna's direction 'May I ask what happened after you and Timmy crashed?'

'We were about to leave when I heard this voice calling me, a voice which I now recognise to be my mother's. Timmy couldn't hear it, but I convinced him to come with me and follow it. That voice led me to one of the many caves in the dimension, where Imperio was holding my parents captive,' Tecna paused 'Then... he fired a powerful dark spell at them, and... I don't really know what happened. All I knew was that I couldn't let him hurt them. I jumped in front of the spell, and in the process I earned my Enchantix. Then we battled. He looked as if he couldn't go on, but then he drew the negative energy in the area into him and used the magic to brainwash my parents and Timmy and turn them against me, so I used fairy dust to neutralise the spell. By drawing out the all of the negative energy, he upset the balance of the area, and the cavern caved in. We escaped on time, but Imperio wasn't so lucky.'

'I must say, I'm very impressed. Whether Imperio is still alive, we have yet to find out, but for now you girls can relax.' Faragonda said.

'And catch up on your studies!,' Grizelda added 'You missed some very important assignments.'

Tecna was doing her homework with Musa when she heard her cell phone ringing. She answered the call, creating a holographic image of Timmy before her.

'H-hi Tecna!' He grinned awkwardly.

'Hi Timmy.' Tecna replied.

'So,' He looked down 'I was kind of... Sort of... Wondering if you'd like to hang out tonight. Just the two of us.' The nerdy specialist blushed.

'Oh,' Tecna said 'Umm... I don't know, I have a lot of work to catch up on.' Musa raised an eyebrow at her from across the room.

'But I think I can make it.' Tecna concluded.

'Great!,' Timmy looked rather excited, and Tecna had to admit it was kinda cute 'I can pick you up around seven, is that ok?'

'Yeah.' A faint smile appeared on Tecna's face.

'Cool! See you then!' Timmy waved goodbye.

'Bye.' Tecna hung up the phone

Stella burst into the room.

'Did I hear what I think I heard?' She bounced on her toes excitedly.

'Stella!,' Musa scolded the blonde-haired girl 'Were you eavesdropping?'

'Oh, I just couldn't help but overhear our good friend Tecna planning a date.' She smirked.

'It's not a date!,' Tecna blushed 'We're just hanging out! As friends!'

'Sure Tecna, I've seen what happens when you look at him,' Stella said, causing Tecna to glare at her with a rather deadpan look on her face 'You don't have to be so defensive, it's not a bad thing. If anything it's good to see you acting so... Normal,.' With that, she stood up and left the room.

'Well then,' Musa sat up straight 'It's already six o'clock, I think we need to get you ready for this date that isn't a date.'

Tecna sighed at the antics of her friends and stared up at the ceiling.

Exactly fifty seven minutes later, Tecna was waiting at the edge of the Alfea courtyard, next to the large wing-shaped gates. She heard a whirring noise in the distance, a noise she recognised to be from one of the wind riders used by the specialists. The sound gradually grew louder, then stopped altogether as Timmy turned off the ignition and hopped off his bike. Just as Tecna was walking towards him, a loud voice that could only belong to Grizelda stopped her in her tracks.

'Just because you're new here and you just came back from a mission does NOT mean that you can-'

'Let her go Grizelda,' Faragonda winked at Tecna 'She'll be back. I trust her.'

The gates opened and Tecna walked over to Timmy. Her heart was pounding, even though she liked Timmy she was already having second thoughts.

"What if I can't trust him? What if something happens? I don't even know whether it's a date or not." Deep in thought, she walked forward in a pensive, dream-like state, until Timmy's words brought her back to reality.

'Hey Tecna!' Timmy hopped from one foot to the other in anticipation. He had tidied up nicely for the occasion. He wore a white button-down shirt and a pair of jeans

'H-hi Timmy.' Tecna tried to smile in an effort to hide her nervousness.

'So...,' Timmy started awkwardly 'Should we get going?'

'Ok,' Tecna said 'Where are we going?'

'I-it's a surprise!' Timmy grinned, clearly excited about something 'Let's go!' He handed her a spare helmet and she jumped on the back of his wind rider. She awkwardly put her arms around his waist as he turned on the engine and the bike hummed into action.

They were driving for about ten minutes when Timmy parked his wind rider just outside the forest, near Lake Roccaluce. Tecna followed him into a clearing, where the bright moonlight reflected onto the crystalline water of the lake, illuminating the landscape. There was a picnic blanket and a basket full of food laid out on the grass.

'Wow Timmy, I don't know what to say.' Tecna had no idea that someone would be willing to do all this just for her, she was most definitely surprised. Timmy had really outdone himself.

'Thanks,' Timmy blushed 'It wasn't just me, the guys helped me out with a lot of it,' He glanced down at his digital watch 'It's starting!'

'What's starting?' Tecna followed him over to the picnic blanket, where he lay down and pointing up at the sky.

'Look.' Timmy said. Tecna followed his lead and stared up at the sky. The ink-black sky was dotted with pinpricks of moving light, travelling across at a high speed.

'Wow,' Tecna gasped 'A meteor shower. I've never seen one before.'

'I found out that it was happening and I thought it would be nice to see it.' Timmy smiled, happy that his surprise had worked. They sat in silence for a while, staring up at the natural phenomenon that was taking place right before their eyes.

'Timmy, this really is amazing, thank you.' Tecna was truly in awe.

'You're welcome Tecna,' Both of them sat up and turned to face each other. The meteor shower was over and the moonlit sky had returned to its original state 'I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.' He took a deep breath and took her dainty hands in his slightly larger ones.

'T-Tecna, I really enjoy being with you. You're smart, and fun to talk to... And you're really pretty too. I really like talking to you and being friends with you, I just...,' He sighed 'I really like you Tecna, as more than just a friend and if you don't feel the same way, then that's fine, I just couldn't hold it in any longer.'

Tecna's heart skipped a beat.

"He feels the same way?

What if I'm not in love?

What if I'm misjudging this completely?

No. He's so sweet, and kind, and funny. When I'm with him the world disappears. I feel happy. Safe. Like no one can hurt me. That's no coincidence, I don't feel like that with anyone else except my parents, and if this is the emotion that saved my parents lives, maybe I'll just need to learn to control it. I can't pass up the opportunity to be with him for the sake of logic. Even though I haven't known him for very long, I already know I can't live without him."

'Oh Timmy,' Tecna sighed and gazed into his kind, hazel eyes 'I... I feel the exact same way.' She smiled, unable to hide her happiness.

'Really?' Timmy's eyes widened. Tecna nodded sincerely in response.

'In that case,' Timmy paused nervously 'T-Tecna, will be my girlfriend?'

'Yes!' Tecna beamed. Timmy hugged her close, his warm embrace calming the both of them. She sank into his arms, her head resting in the crook of his neck. Timmy started stroking her short, magenta hair absent-mindedly, in a state of complete bliss.

After a couple minutes, they broke apart from each other and stood up. Timmy found himself drifting over to Tecna once again. Before he knew it, he had her arms around her small waist, leaning in close. He took off his glasses as she put her arms around his neck and gazed up at him. In a single, unforgettable moment, his lips touched hers. Tecna closed her eyes. She felt as if she was a hundred feet in the air, she had never felt this happy in her life. Emotions were clouding her senses, taking over her brain and for once, she didn't mind in the slightest. She was in love.


	12. Chapter 12: Trouble in Paradise

Tecna got off the back of Timmy's wind rider just outside the Alfea gates. She felt as if she was lighter than air, as if she was floating away like she was as light as a feather. Timmy stood up and took his helmet off.

'I really enjoyed tonight,' Tecna gazed into his hazel eyes 'Thanks Timmy.'

'It's no problem, I really enjoyed it too.' Timmy held her close to him, her warm body against his. He tilted his head to the side and gave her one last kiss, the refreshing adrenaline coursing through his veins. Tecna closed her eyes and relaxed into the kiss, at complete inner peace for the first time in years. After a few seconds, Tecna let go of him and stepped back.

'I guess this is goodbye then.' She sighed.

'Goodbye Tecna.' Timmy smiled, then put back on his helmet as he mounted his wind rider.

'Bye Timmy!' She waved goodbye as Timmy sped off into the distance.

Tecna opened the door to her dorm room. It was ten o'clock at night already, and she was exhausted. She yawned as she walked into the dormitory, and upon opening her eyes, she saw all five of her friends sitting down waiting for her.

'Tecna! How did it go?' Musa stood up with a bright grin on her face. Tecna simply giggled, even surprising herself by being so out of character, then walked to her room and flopped down on her comfy bed.

"Ummm... Guys,' Aisha was rather confused, to say the least 'I think Timmy broke her. Who are you and what have you done with Tecna?' The aforementioned technology fairy didn't even have the chance to respond, as Stella interjected immediately.

'How was it? What did you do? Did you kiss?,' Stella babbled 'We want ALL the details.'

'Stella!,' Flora looked over at the excitable blonde 'You don't have to tell us if you don't want to Tecna.'

'Uh, yes she does,' Musa snorted 'Now tell us what happened!' Tecna laughed, in a happy daze.

'Well, we went to Lake Roccaluce, and we watched the meteor shower.' Tecna said curtly.

'Then what?!' Stella was on the edge of her seat. Her golden eyes were wide with anticipation. Tecna blushed and smiled to herself.

'What happened Tecna?,' Musa persisted 'And don't tell us it's nothing, because the look on your face says it all.'

'Ummm... He asked me to be his girlfriend.' Tecna said awkwardly.

'And what did you say?' Bloom probed.

'I said yes!' Tecna beamed. It was incredibly unusual for the girls to see her this happy, but it was a welcome surprise considering everything that she'd been through.

'Ohmygodohmygodohmygodddddd!,' Stella squealed and practically suffocated her in a hug 'I called it! I knew you guys had chemistry!'

'Congrats Tecna,' Musa laughed 'We're really happy for you!'

'This calls for a celebration!' Stella jumped up excitedly.

'Stella, it's past ten o'clock at night!' Bloom said.

'So?,' Stella responded 'Flora didn't you make brownies while Tecna was on her date?'

'Yes, but they're vegan garbanzo bean brownies, and didn't you say that you wouldn't eat them because they're hippie food-'

'Girls, calm down,' Aisha chuckled 'I have a secret stash of chocolate under my bed anyway so we can eat some of that.'

'Yay! You're the best!' Stella clapped excitedly then ran off in search of her, or Aisha's rather, beloved food.

'Hey! Wait for me!' Aisha followed her down the hall.

Back at Red Fountain, Timmy had just returned home. He hummed chirpily as he walked through the door to the dormitory he shared with his squad.

'Hey guys!' He announced his presence happy.

'Hey Timmy! How did the date go?' Brandon asked. Timmy laughed nervously and started to blush.

'Wait... Did you ask her out?' Brandon said.

'Y-yes.' Timmy replied awkwardly.

'And did she say yes?'

'Y-yes!' Timmy couldn't stop himself from smiling.

'Guys, Timmy's done it! Him and Tecna are official!' Brandon cheered.

'Timmy has a [Italics] girlfriend?,' Riven scoffed 'Is this the same Timmy that was so awkward that Codatorta gave him a detention for it?'

'The same Timmy that refused to go to a party because there would be girls?' Nabu chimed in.

'I had work to catch up on!,' Even though his roommates were teasing him, he still couldn't wipe that smile off his face 'Besides, I don't have to worry about being awkward,' he sighed 'Tecna likes me for me.'

'Congratulations Timmy.' As the group dad and Timmy's best friend, Helia was especially happy for Timmy.

'Yeah, congrats.' Sky smiled. He had been Timmy's wingman since Tecna came.

'I knew you guys had chemistry,' Brandon laughed 'It was only a matter of time before one of you confessed.'

'Thanks guys,' Timmy said 'It means a lot.'

'No problem Mainframe,' Brandon replied 'Now who wants some beer?'

'Brandon we've been through this,' Helia groaned 'Having a secret stash of beer is against school rules.'

'Not against the rules if you don't get caught.' He winked.

'Ugh! Eating chocolate right before bed last night was NOT a good idea.' Stella grumbled as she walked into the kitchen.

'Good thing some of us have common sense.' Musa remarked jokingly.

'I sure am glad it's Saturday, I could not handle class today.' Aisha yawned and stretched her arms, nearly hitting Tecna and Flora in the process, but luckily both of them ducked. Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door.

'I'll get it!' Bloom ran to the door and opened it, revealing Ms. Grizelda.

'Girls, Headmistress Faragonda needs to see you immediately.' The Alfea head of discipline had a grave look on her face. The girls could tell something was up. They all stood up silently and walked to Faragonda's office.

'Girls, I brought you to my office today because the safety of the planet Earth has been threatened. Imperio is back, and he is attempting to take over Earth by force. No doubt he saw it as an easy target, Earth has been without magic for centuries now,' Faragonda informed the girls of the dire situation at hand 'We need you and the Specialists to travel to Earth and put a stop to it immediately.'

'Alright,' Bloom stood up straight, ready for their mission 'When do we leave?'

Tecna didn't know what she was feeling. Apprehensiveness perhaps? Inhibition? Maybe it was what happened on Zenith combined with the Omega mission, but she didn't want to face Imperio. She didn't want to face the diabolical man who had become a symbol of her past. Now that she had a chance to experience a normal life, she had finally realised that what happened in her past was not what would be considering acceptable in this foreign society.

'Good afternoon girls.'

'Good afternoon Mr. Electra.'

'You have all been gathered here today because you all are eighteen, meaning that you are now of age. As you all know, this means that the Ageing Ceremony will take place soon. On the 18th of July, one week from now, the ceremony will be conducted and you will all be married off. Following the ceremony, you will have one week left of school during which you will complete your exams, then when the exams are over you shall all be relocated to houses where you will live with your respective husbands.'

The Ageing Ceremony was a traditional Zenithian ritual brought in by Imperio. When girls reached the age of eighteen and finished high school, they would be officially declared "of age" and be married off to a corresponding group of men. These men were always years older, in their mid-thirties at least, as they had to go through many years of college and achieve a PhD in their respective fields, then complete five years of mandatory military service before they could be assigned a wife and settled down. After marriage, the women were then expected to perform household duties and produce children.

Tecna knew that she could not be condemned to a boring life of nothing other than homemaking, married to a much older man who she didn't care for. It was at this moment that she knew she had to leave Zenith. The following day, that was exactly what she did.


	13. Chapter 13: Battle of the Blizzard

The gears of the Specialists' ship grinded to a halt as they landed on the surface of Earth. Even though it had barely been two days since they returned from the Omega Dimension, they were surprisingly well rested and ready for action. They were used to not getting a break between missions, and had learned to tolerate sleep deprivation over time. As they stepped out on to the surface of the Earth, they couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right.

'I don't know about this place guys,' Aisha said, a twinge of concern in her voice 'I've got a bad feeling about this.'

'Yeah,' Musa added 'This just doesn't seem right, there's nothing but blizzard for miles.'

'This environment is so cold and lifeless,' Flora sighed 'I can't sense any plants or humans here at all.'

'No life and no signs of Imperio's alleged takeover,' Tecna mused 'Faragonda must have set us up. It's the only logical explanation.'

'Faragonda wouldn't do that to us!,' Bloom insisted 'Would she?'

Back in Alfea, Faragonda was making an important call in her office.

'Did you give them the right co-ordinates?'

'Yes, I've sent them to the exact location you described. It's a region the Earth people call Siberia. It's a region covered in snow and ice, with no people for miles, ergo no people to hear their cries as they meet their demise.'

'Excellent work Faragonda. We'll be able to get rid of those pathetic fairies quickly and quietly. However, we can't relax yet. I'm sending my troops over there now, and I will captain my best ship there personally. You, on the other hand, must stay in Alfea. You're our spy, our eyes on the inside. You've done an outstanding job at gathering Intel and sabotaging their schemes, but if the Magix Council find out you're a double agent, you'll be dismissed and we won't have anyone to keep an eye on the Winx.'

'Well, fancy meeting you here.' Imperio appeared before the group of heroes, his self-righteous expression as condescending as ever.

'Imperio,' Sky gritted his teeth 'What a nice surprise.'

'How lovely, you've all fallen right into my trap.' Imperio chuckled.

'Trap? But Faragonda gave us the co-ordinates!' Bloom retorted.

'Silence! I have one objective here and one objective only, and it does not include listening to your futile protests!' Imperio snapped.

'You monster!,' Bloom yelled 'It ends here! Dragon Energy!' In a moment of pure range, the fiery silhouette of the Great Dragon snaked from Bloom's hands and flew forward to attack Imperio. The sheer force of the blast combined with the white-hot fire magic knocked him to the ground. Despite this, he stood back up once more.

'It'll take more than that to defeat me!,' Imperio rose upwards 'Antimatter sphere!' Aiming specifically for Tecna, he fired a spell in her direction. Timmy raised his shield to protect her, but the blast smashed it into a million pieces.

'Tecna, are you alright?' Timmy pushed her hair out of her face, noticing for the second time the red circular scar on her forehead. He was plagued by curiousity and worry as to what it may be, but they were in the middle of a battle, and he had always been afraid to ask.

'I'm fine,' Tecna grimaced and stood up, readying herself to fight once more 'Electric storm!' With a single burst of technomagical power, she knocked Imperio out of the sky. At that moment it seemed as if victory would be within reach, but Imperio had another trick up his sleeve. Armed guards started moving in from all directions, surrounding them entirely.

'Hand over the girl and you will be spared!,' Imperio said to the Winx and the Specialists 'Give me the fairy of technology and I will let you go without harm.'

'Never!' Musa protested.

'Green luxuriant ivy!' Flora's magic caused vines to sprout from the snowy ground, but the environment was so barren and lifeless that her magic was weak, and Imperio broke free easily.

'I guess I'm going to have to do this the hard way! Guards, attack!' Imperio's army advanced on them, attacking anyone who got in their way. In the midst of the chaos, he managed to drive a knife into Tecna's leg. With a gut-wrenching scream she fell to the floor, growing pale as blood poured from her wound. The injury weakened her, causing her to revert back to her human form. She tried to stand up, but the immense pain kept her on the ground. It was at that moment that she realised that she was defeated and started to fear for her life.

'You're coming with me!' One of Imperio's guards grabbed Tecna forcefully. Meanwhile, Timmy had just finished off another one of the soldiers when he saw Tecna in the enemy's hands.

'Tecna! No!' He ran over immediately and, surprisingly, managed to drop-kick the guard and catch Tecna in his arms. He held her gently, pulling her close so that he could feel her faint heartbeat.

'Timmy,' The pure fear that shone in Tecna's eyes broke Timmy's heart 'D-don't let go.' She pleaded weakly.

'I won't,' Even though he was near tears, he had to stay strong. For her. Tecna. The girl that despite her cold demeanour had a warm heart. The girl who was beautiful yet intelligent, and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. The girl who was his one and only, his soulmate. He felt ready to give his life for her, that very same amazing girl 'I'll never let you go Tecna.'

'You're clearly not as smart as you look,' Imperio said coldly 'I am trying to take back what's mine, and if stealing away your precious princess is what makes the difference between victory and failure then so be it.'

'You'll never get away with this!' Timmy said.

'On the contrary,' Imperio paused and wrenched Tecna out of his arms 'I know I will.'

'Timmy!' Tecna struggled against Imperio, but the sorcerer's grip was like a vice.

'Guards! Bring me my ship!' Within seconds, a large warship flew to his side. The door opened and he stepped onto the ramp triumphantly. Timmy ran forward in a last-ditch attempt to retrieve his girlfriend, but two muscular guards held him back.

'Tecna! I will find you! I promise!' Timmy locked eyes with her for one last time, flailing desperately in an attempt to lose the guards.

'Don't make promises you can't keep.' Imperio cackled. Himself and the technology fairy disappeared from view as the door closed and the ship took off.

'Roll out!' Imperio's guards let go of Timmy and marched away.'

'No...' Timmy sank to his knees, everyone ounce of his willpower going into preventing himself from crying bitter tears.

'It's not your fault Timmy.' Flora said reassuringly. The ginger specialist shook his head.

'I think we should go back to Alfea.' Stella said.

'Alfea isn't safe,' Aisha reminded her 'If Faragonda really is a double agent then we'll have to find somewhere else.'

'We could bring you all back to Red Fountain.' Sky suggested.

'What if Saladin's working with Imperio too?' Musa asked worriedly.

'My grandfather is a noble man,' Helia stated 'He would never associate with a dark sorcerer, or double-cross us.'

'Helia's right, let's go to Red Fountain,' Flora reached over and grasped Helia's hand gently.

'I guess it's settled then,' Bloom said 'Let's go back to Red Fountain.'

A few hours later, Timmy was sitting alone in his room. He had isolated himself completely, and had adamantly refused to eat no matter how hard the others tried to get through to him. All he could think about was Tecna.

Even through they hadn't known each other for long, they had made a connection, and a strong one to say the least. If Timmy was honest with himself, he feared for her life more than anything, but he knew she was still fighting. He could sense it. If she was gone there would be a void, a vast empty nothingness, but he could still feel her. It was as if her lifeforce was joined with his. It was faint, but it was still there, still within reach. That meant he still had something to fight for. He had to keep going. Timmy stood up. No more hesitating. No more worrying. He was going to get Tecna back. Timmy was not going to break his promise.


	14. Chapter 14: Building Hope

Imperio threw Tecna to the ground carelessly. The exhausted technology fairy flopped to the ground limply like a rag doll. Even though she couldn't stand and was dizzy from blood loss, she still wasn't going to give up and let Imperio kidnap her.

'Tecna Enchanti-', As she called upon her transformation, one of Imperio's guards approached from behind and slammed a pair of magic-resistant handcuffs on her wrist. She could no longer transform, or use magic of any kind.

'Try flying away now!,' Imperio smirked triumphantly 'Aurelie, dress her wound. We need her alive and in perfect condition.'

A young woman, no older than nineteen, emerged from the shadows. She had a lithe build, brown eyes and long, braided purple hair. She was wearing a white and blue medic's uniform and was holding a first aid kit. Imperio stalked away and closed the door roughly, leaving Tecna alone with the girl named Aurelie.

Aurelie sat down and opened the first aid kit, taking out a some antiseptic wipes to clean the wound.

'You're something of a local celebrity on Zenith you know,' She piped up, startling Tecna 'The girl who escaped. Imperio did ban any mention of you after the third day, but no one listened. His authority has been dwindling since the attack.'

'Why is he bringing me back?,' Tecna asked 'I thought he wanted me dead, but now he needs me in perfect physical condition. His planning style is illogical.'

'The Ageing Ceremony,' Aurelie replied simply 'As soon as Imperio marries you off to some creepy, middle-aged man, you are bound to that man and that godforsaken planet forever. Women almost never leave the house as it is, but once you get assigned a house with your husband you'll probably be under complete house arrest. He wants you back so that you don't threaten his power and just become another part of his twisted system. Why he's willing to spare your life I had no idea, but it's most certainly not out of the good of his heart.'

'He knows that killing me wouldn't be good enough. He's condemned me to a fate worse than death.' Tecna said

'Tell me about it,' Aurelie sighed 'As soon as I got married last year I ran off. Pretended to be a man and trained as an army medic. They eventually found out that I was a girl, but they didn't care. They needed all the people they could get. Well that's why they said they didn't fire me anyway. The guys liked to have some... female company.' She shivered.

Aurelie finished stitching up the gash down Tecna's leg and begun to dress it in gauze and various bandages.

'You're going to need to replace the dressing on that wound every day or you'll wind up with a nasty infection,' Aurelie warned her 'Although that being said, I don't think Imperio will be overly accomodating of your medical needs. Anyway, the Ageing Ceremony takes place tomorrow at eighteen hundred hours, so you have 24 hours to get out of here. You might need some help from the outside though, this place is crawling with Imperio's goons.'

Tecna sighed and stared out the window, deep in thought, thinking about her friends, and especially Timmy.

"Wherever you guys are, please come find me..."

'We have to go find Tecna, who knows what Imperio's doing to her?!' Timmy slammed his hand onto Saladin's desk, exasperated by everyone's lack of action.

'We don't even know where she is Timmy.' Riven rolled his eyes in exasperation.

'Well there's a ninety percent chance she'll be in Zenith, so I say we start there!' The red-haired specialist didn't understand why no one was listening to him.

'I don't know Timmy, Imperio's military controls the whole planet, we'll need to sneak in quickly and quietly, and for that, we'll need a precise location.' Brandon said. He hated to crush Timmy's spirits and tried to let him down gently. He was as eager to find Tecna as the next member of their group, but someone had to stay realistic.

'I can't believe you guys, you aren't even giving it a chance!,' Timmy finally snapped, he was sick and tired of their mindless hesitation. Tecna's life was at stake and they were doing absolutely nothing 'She could be dying out there and you're acting as if you couldn't care less!' He stormed out, not bothering to close the door behind him.

'If they're not willing to do anything, I guess I'll have to find her myself.'

A couple hours later, Imperio's ship landed back on Zenith. From the moment Tecna stepped onto the soil of her homeworld, she knew that something was different. People were protesting on the streets. Riots were breaking out between royalists, who wanted a return to the usual monarchy, and Imperio's supporters. Men, women and children were holding up signs, signs with Tecna's face on them.

'Look!,' Someone shouted 'It's the princess!'

Cheers and screams broke out. People clambered towards them, but Imperio's men held them back. They all started to chant, forming one unified voice.

'Long live Princess Tecna! Long live the throne!'

'Silence!' Imperio yelled out in an exasperated attempt to quell the protesters. It was no use, they only got louder.

'Long live the Princess!'

'Down with the tyrant!'

'Guards. Arrest them.' Imperio's monotonous order prompted armed men to move out into the square, arresting any civilians in their way. Shots rang out as they used laser guns to attack the protesters. With a guard at either side and her hands cuffed, Tecna could only watch as the people, her people, suffered. It was clear that in that desperate time, logic had completely gone out the window.

Tecna was grabbed by Imperio's men and dragged to they palace. They brought her down a dark staircase to the palace dungeons and shoved her into a dark, cold cell. The cell had no windows and no bed or furniture of any kind, just the hard concrete floor. Tecna's solemn gaze followed the guards towards the door as they slammed it shut and began to walk back up the stairs.

Timmy was sitting in his room, trying to formulate a plan. Logically speaking, it was most likely that Tecna was in Zenith, and it would be easy enough to get there. The only problem was Imperio's guards. He asked Bloom, and the girls didn't have any deception spells, nor did Nabu. There had to be a way. Maybe there was a blind spot that they could enter from, or maybe they could just use brute force. If only there was a way to contact her...

Timmy was snapped out of his daze by the sounds of Musa singing. No doubt it was about their latest incident, Riven had mentioned before that Musa mostly expressed her feelings through song.

'Don't be afraid,

I'll be right there,

An angel will keep you from sorrow,

A breeze will blow softly,

Whispering gently

That you're not alone.

There will always be a place that you can find me.

And it won't be long,

You'll wake up strong,

The night will give way to a better day,

You'll never be alone.'

Those lyrics hit Timmy right in the heart. Struck something right inside him. He needed Tecna more than anything and wanted to protect her from harm, but all he could do was reach for answers, hoping that he'd find a miracle. And a miracle was what he was going to find. He'd make sure of it.

Tecna stared at the floor, trying desperately to think of a way out. The cell was completely empty, not a single useful object was in sight. If she could just find some scrap metal and spare parts, she could easily make some form of gadget to get the cuffs off, maybe even a communicator to find her friends. She stood up and walked around, then noticed a sudden dip in the floorboard she was standing on. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be loose. Tecna leaned downwards and lifted the floorboard, revealing a large key and some assorted machine parts. As Tecna sifted through the treasure trove of parts, a familiar face appeared outside her cell.

'I see you found the loose floorboard,' Aurelie smiled 'Got any ideas yet?'

'I need to get these cuffs off first. I think this may be the right key,' Tecna held up the large chromium key. After a couple seconds of trying to manoeuvre her hands in the right directions, she managed to get the handcuffs off 'I think I'm going to try make s communicator first.'

Timmy was sitting at the desk in his room. He had a program set up to detect radio signals in the hopes that Tecna would find some way to contact him. Despite his friends' advice, he hadn't moved an inch in hours. It was getting late, and Timmy couldn't deny that he was getting tired. Suddenly, something snapped him out of his funk. He had just received a message on his communicator. When he opened it, it appeared to be a mixture of strange, foreign symbols. It was Zenithian Cypher, the same code that Timmy decoded to get into Imperio's castle. He immediately got to work at decoding it.

'Dear Timmy, I am currently in the dungeons of Imperio's palace. In 24, hours, the traditional Zenithian Ageing Ceremony will take place and I will be married off and condemned to live on this planet with a man I barely know. You must come quickly, there isn't much time. Love, Tecna.' Timmy read out the message in full. He couldn't believe it. Tecna had made contact with him.

'Guys, come here, quick! Tecna sent me a message! She's ok, I know where she is, we can go rescue her!' Timmy jumped up in excitement. Within seconds, all of the Specialists and their girlfriends were in the room.

'Where is she?'

'Is she alright?'

'Make it quick Mainframe I'm hungry.'

'Guys!,' Helia interrupted their chatter 'Let Timmy speak.'

'Tecna's currently in the dungeons in Imperio's palace. Tomorrow there's a traditional ageing ceremony taking place during which...,' He sighed 'Tecna will be married off to another guy. He need to get there before it's too late!'

'Alright, let's get going!,' Sky declared 'There should be a weak spot in the magic barrier around Zenith from where we broke it last time, so we should be able to enter from there.'

'Then we'll keep flying until we reach one of the barrier security checkpoints, then steal one of Imperio's army's ships, so we don't draw attention to ourselves. We'll grab a couple uniforms and use them to disguise ourselves. Then we'll sneak into the castle and rescue Tecna!' Timmy stood up triumphantly.

'What are we waiting for?,' A smile began to grow on Musa's face 'Let's go!'


	15. Chapter 15: The Last Stand

A/N: Long Chapter ahead :))

Lying awake on the damp cell floor, Tecna found herself completely unable to sleep. All she could do was count down the hours until she would be married off to a man she didn't even know. Until her freedom would be taken away from her. Until both her and Timmy's hearts would be broken.

Timmy knew that he needed to sleep. The guys had done everything they could to help calm him down. Helia showed him some meditation techniques. Sky gave him a pep talk. Even Riven was being unusually nice to him, but it was no use. His body may have been in Red Fountain, but his mind was a million miles away, with her. Tecna. He wanted to see her and make sure she was ok so badly, hell, if the guys hadn't insisted that he get a good night's sleep he would leave right that minute. All he could do was sit there, silently hoping that she knew she would never be alone.

At five AM that morning, Tecna awoke to the sound of a gruff voice attempting to arise her from what little sleep she managed to get.

'Get up,' One of Imperio's guards said, a sense of authority instilled in his voice 'The ceremony begins in 7.45 hours.'

Tecna rose to her feet slowly and limped towards the guard. The clanking of heavy metal keys sounded as he unlocked the cell, followed by a creak as the bars swung aside, letting Tecna step out onto the tiled floor beside him. She noticed that the guard was accompanied by Aurelie.

'Aurelie, bring this girl upstairs immediately.' He ordered her.

'Yes Lieutenant Barium.' She began to walk up the steep stairwell and beckoned Tecna, who slowly following behind her, her unbalanced gait hindering the process.

When they reached the top of the staicase, Aurelie brought Tecna into a small, dingy room. On the hard, stone wall was a metal hook, supporting a wire hanger with a white garment on it. Her dress for the Ageing Ceremony.

'Is she getting ready?' Imperio asked his lieutenant.

'Affirmative. Aurelie brought her upstairs 1.25 minutes ago.' Lieutenant Barium replied in a monotone voice.

'Perfect. My plan has been set into motion.' Imperio smirked.

'My lord, may I enquire as to what do you have to gain from this scheme?' The lieutenant stepped forward to address Imperio.

'I'm glad you asked,' Imperio's sinister smile became one of pure arrogance 'Once Tecna marries a commoner, she will lose everything. Her inheritance, the castle, her royal blood... And then they will have no choice but to hand it over to me. I will have total control over this realm. That pitiful fairy shall finally crumble and there's nothing she or her pesky friends can do about it.'

It was Zenithian tradition that the future husband would buy the dress for his soon-to-be wife for the ceremony. With that in mind, Tecna stepped into the soft fabric of the dress she had been presented with. It was made of a while silk-like material adorned with light-blue gemstones. It had long sleeves and a floor-length skirt, sticking to Zenithian regulation, but it was rather tight, with a form-fitting bodice and a skirt that flared outwards past the knee. Such a lavish garment was rarely seen in what was quite a conservative realm. Tecna wondered who her prospective husband was, where he would get the money and resources to supply such a garment, and why he would choose such an... unconventional style.

The well-lit Zenithian city hall was filled with people, sitting solemnly before the main platform, where the ceremony would take place. Imperio himself was to be the master of ceremonies, to ensure that every aspect went to plan. Tecna, along with the other girls her age, was as the back of the hall waiting for the ceremony to begin. She couldn't help but notice that she was garnering a lot of stares. Her extravagant outfit mixed with her newfound fame as princess was getting her a lot of attention, and if she was honest with herself she sttill wasn't used to it. Imperio's guards had once again put magic-resistant handcuffs on her so all she could do was watch as he relished in the feeling of victory.

The ceremony was soon called into motion, and Tecna followed the other girls in a single-file procession. They headed towards the platform at the end of the hall where Imperio was standing, awaiting the enactment of his grand scheme.

'Ladies, gentlemen and droids, I cordially welcome you to this year's Zenith City Ageing Ceremony.' Imperio began in an cocky, self-assured tone. After a short and generic speech, he began the ritual by announcing the first girl to be married.

'Lyra Nuclei,' Lyra, a tall girl with short blue hair stepped forward. Tecna remembered her as being rather intelligent, with powers that revolved around antimatter. Meanwhile, a man with short greyish-black hair and a moustache stood up from a congregation of men at the side of the platform 'You are henceforth married to Kane Argentia.'

The two walked towards each other, then walked down the aisle between the seats to the back of the hall.

'Electra Beryllium.' The ceremony continued, and Tecna found herself starting to panic. Where were her friends? She could feel the clock ticking, and was aware that she didn't have much time left.

'Tecna Titania.'

Tecna's heart skipped a beat.

There was no stopping it.

Imperio's victory was inevitable.

Her friends didn't come to save her. She knew should have known not to count on it.

Slowly, she stepped forward, her hands already starting to shake. A man walked towards her. He had grey hair and a leering smirk on his face. His walk exuded arrogance and pompousness in a way that made the hairs on the back of Tecna's neck stand on end. He didn't stop walking until he was uncomfortably close to her and she noticed his gaze dipping lower than she would have liked it to.

'The names Zirconio,' He said smugly, 'I have a feeling we're going to get on well together.'

Tecna said nothing. He snaked his arm around her waist, holding on ti her tightly, almost as if she was nothing more than a possession he was about to acquire.

'Get your hands off my girlfriend!' Tecna gasped and looked up. Right there, in the doorway of the city hall, was none other than Timmy, with all of the Winx and specialists behind him. Timmy walked down the aisle with a sense of purpose and commitment, and a surprising confidence that Tecna had never seen before.

'Timmy!' She couldn't help but call out his name, she had never been so happy to see anyone in her life.

'Silence!,' Imperio's thundering voice interrupted what was once a happy and joyful moment 'How dare you interrupt this sacred ceremony!'

'Actually Imperio, how dare YOU kidnap our friend!,' Musa stepped forward boldly 'Winx Enchantix!' The girls transformed into their Enchantix fairy forms in unison ready to fight.

'Hey Tecna!,' Aisha called over to Tecna, then tossed her a small pink object 'Use this morphix key to get those cuffs off!' Tecna managed to quickly unlock the cuffs, then wasted no time to get ready to battle.

'Tecna Enchantix!' She felt powerful once again as the magic coursed through her veins. Now that she was on the soil of her home planet, she felt a great connection to Zenith's power source. It's energy was strengthening her magic and she felt ready to take down Imperio once and for all.

'Lazer cage!' Tecna faced Imperio and used magic to contain him inside of a green digital cube.

'Digital Shroud!' Dark energy consumed Tecna's spell and freed Imperio from its grasp. He stepped forward and signalled towards one of his guards. He was clearly planning something.

Meanwhile, the Specialists were fighting off Imperio's men. Timmy was locked in a particularly rough battle with one of them, a muscular guy who was good with a sword. Timmy was never very good at close combat and preferred to use his lazer gun from a distance, but as they were packed into the city hall, picking them off from a distance just wouldn't do.

'Electric storm!' Suddenly, the guard Timmy was duelling gasped in pain and stumbled backwards, then fell and hit the ground. Timmy recognised that sweet voice, the one that he had been yearning for over the course of what felt like months.

'Tecna!' He ran towards her, overjoyed to be reunited with his beloved. Tecna smiled brightly and flew into his loving embrace, cherishing every moment of their long-awaited reunification.

'I missed you so much!' Timmy grinned.

'I knew you'd find me.' Tecna met his kind hazel eyes.

'Tecna, a little help here?' Judging by Stella's exasperated tone, she was clearly needed elsewhere. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, finding that her lips lingered on his skin without thinking about it. She then flew off to rejoin the others.

At the back of the hall, Lyra and Electra had finally managed to distance themselves from their new husbands. The battle was in full swing right before them, and they were tired of sitting on the sidelines.

'Screw this,' Electra muttered 'I'm tired of being forced to sit at the sidelines of everything just because I'm a girl. We aren't allowed fight, we aren't allowed do what we want, we aren't even allowed to love who we want,' She paused and linked hands with Lyra, looking into her eyes for a single, fleeting moment 'I'm going to go fight and I'm going to beat the crap out of Imperio. His regime has held us back for too long.'

'Me too!' Lyra stood up next to her, clenching her fist.

'Lyra Magic Transform!'

'Electra Magic Transform!'

As the girls transformed into their fairy forms, more and more bystanders joined the fight. Even Aurelie had transformed into her witch form and was taking down Imperio's soldiers left, right and center.

'Plasma sphere!' With a sudden blast of energy, Imperio shattered the glass ceiling of the hall, sending transparent shards falling to the ground. He rose upwards, with Tecna close at his heels.

'Digital shield!' Tecna generated a neon green forcefield, covering the people below them to prevent them from getting hurt by the falling debris. The jagged pieces of glass disintegrated as they hit Tecna's shield.

'It all ends here!,' Imperio snarled 'Regenero!' Imperio's incantion caused the roof to seal back up, isolating them from the fracas below. It wasn't long before Bloom busted down the door of the city hall and flew up towards Tecna, with the rest of the Winx Club in tow.

'You're regime has gone on for too long,' Tecna said scathingly 'You'll never win this time.'

'I wouldn't count on it,' Imperio smirked 'In fact, the playing field has always been level. Genetically and magically, we are equals. Even still, I will twist the gears of fate and defeat you once and for all. I will finally reclaim my birthright to the throne of Zenith.'

'Genetically? What are you talking about?' Aisha asked

'And since when is the throne your birthright?' Bloom added

'The throne of Zenith was always mine!,' Imperio snarled 'I was born into the royal family, son of King Zanthius and Queen Neoplasmia, older brother to Prince Electronio! I was always the favourite, my Inventions brought forth a new technological era in Zenith! I was a genius, yet they exiled me over one experiment gone wrong! It was ground-breaking research all in the name of science, even if my brother developed a debilitating condition from being used as a test subject! Exiled and disgraced, I spent the rest of my life in the outer rim of this planetary system, honing my powers so that one day I could get revenge and enact my right to rule. When I was ready, I constructed a new identity in the hopes that I could create order in this cursed realm!'

Tecna was in shock.

"No. No. It can't be. How could we be related?! How could he do such a thing to my father! He'll pay for what he did! He'll pay for it all!" Her thoughts formed a downward spiral, confused one minute angry the next. She felt almost completely dissociated from her body. It all made sense, yet she didn't want it to. Imperio's easy defeat of Electronio. His plot for revenge. Tecna wasn't going to let him get away with it. Any of it.

'You monster!,' For a fleeting moment, emotion took over her mind entirely 'Electric storm!' She fired a spell at him with such force and conviction that he plummeted to the ground.

'That's it!,' Bloom gasped 'Tecna, you need to base all your spells on strong, positive emotions, it's the only way to beat him! You need to use what he doesn't have to make yourself more powerful! Let go of logic!'

Let go of logic.

A task much easier said than done.

It was risky. No logic, no practicality, no tactics.

However, if she could find a way to balance the two.

It just might work.

It was their only hope.

It was going to be hard, but she needed to try.

She began to summon up all her emotions, the memories everything that had happened to her and her loved ones at the hand of Imperio. He kidnapped her. He took over her realm. He tried to kill her parents. He hurt her friends in battle, and after all that, this monster, this scheming, diabolical, selfish being was somehow related to her. His many atrocities fueled her anger, her primal instincts surfacing after so many years of being bottled up and hidden.

'Digital fury!' Tecna created a powerful magic spell, feeling the energy fly from her fingertips and hit Imperio square in the chest.

'Dark Plasma!' He attempted a counter-attack but she remained completely unfazed. People had now evacuated the city hall and were crowded around the scene, watching the epic battle unfold. Chants started to break out, and it was clear that the people were on Tecna's side. The force of their will and their undying morale was giving Tecna strength.

'You may have emotion, and the people may be on your side, but we're from the same family, we draw our magic from the same source! One of us will never truly be able to defeat the other!' Imperio stated.

'And that's where we come in!' Bloom and the rest of the Winx flew towards Tecna and huddled around her.

'If Tecna can't defeat him on her own, then maybe our combined energy will be enough to destroy him,' Bloom said quietly 'We need to use a convergence spell.'

'Right!' The group of fairies flew outwards, formed a circle and linked hands.

In perfect synchronisation, the girls all started to call upon the most powerful magic from feel within them. Tecna tried to do the same and join her essence with theirs, but she just couldn't. They were all so close, and they united so easily, but Tecna still felt like an outsider. She was still the missing link.

That was when she looked down. She saw Timmy, smiling up at her, a smile of pure belief and happiness. He believed in her, and it looked like the other specialists did too. She looked around at the girls' faces. Flora made eye contact with her, her brown eyes looking into Tecna's reassuringly. They believed in her, they all thought, no, knew she could do it. Maybe she wasn't as much of an outsider as she thought. Together, they could bring Imperio down once and for all.

Suddenly, Tecna's magic, her true essence from deep inside her heart started to flourish. Her magic, logic and emotions coming together as one, and linking with the other girls'. Their hearts as one.

'Winx Enchantix Conversion!' An overwhelming burst of light exuded from them, sending a wave of magic out in all directions. The people gasped as it spread across the realm, the magic reinstilling a sense of happiness and unity in everyone.

'No...' Imperio dropped to the concrete pavement, keeled over in pain.

Pieces of him started to flake off like plaster, floating into the air and disappearing.

'I will get my revenge! I will take back the throne!' He croaked desperately as his body began to crumble. Tecna descended and walked over to him. Upon reaching his dying form, she stepped on his foot, causing it to crack into a million pieces.

'You may have been in the royal family, but you never had the right to the throne. You had royal blood, but to rule you need a pure heart, the one thing that you've been lacking this whole time.' Tecna said coldly. The remaining Winx members gathered around her, some of them placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. They watched in silence as Imperio's remains floated away.

'Tecna!' Timmy ran through the crowd towards Tecna and took her into his arms, able to properly reunite with her at long last.

'Timmy!,' Tecna wrapped her arms around his neck, tears forming in her eyes for the first time in years 'I... I thought I lost you.' A single year trickled down her cheek.

'Tecna, are you crying?' Timmy gasped and lifted his hand up to her face, shocked at her suddenly display of emotion.

'I'm sorry, I'm being so illogical.' She sighed.

'Tecna, normally I would be in favour of logic but after all that's happened... Screw logic!' Suddenly, he leaned forward and placed a passionate kiss on Tecna's lips, playing with her hair as she caressed his cheekbone. For the first time in years, Tecna felt whole again. Imperio was gone, she was starting to let go of logic and most importantly, she had found love. It wasn't her that saved them all. Without Timmy she wouldn't have been able to save herself.

'Tecna...,' He paused and looked downwards 'I love you.'

Tecna's mouth formed a silent 'o' and she started to blush, grinning to herself. She felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart skipped a beat.

'I love you too Timmy,' Unsure what to do, she leaned in and kissed him again.

Tecna heard an abrupt noise that could only be likened to three sound of a ship landing. A small blue ship touched down on the smooth pavement metres away from them. The doors opened, revealing Tecna's parents, Magnethia and Electronio.

'Tecna!'

'Mom! Dad!'

The whole family ran into one large group hug.

'Well,' Tecna's dad stood up and turned towards the wildly cheering people of Zenith 'I believe we have a kingdom to run.'


	16. Epilogue: Two Hearts As One

'And now, our final Alfea graduate, Crown Princess Tecna the First of Zenith, fairy of technology.' Tecna had to admit that the new titles that were added onto her name took a bit of getting used to, nevertheless she walked up to the podium where Grizelda stood at the microphone. After Faragonda's exposure as a double agent and subsequent arrest, Grizelda was to take her place until a suitable replacement was found. Alfea was brightly decorated and packed full of students, alumni, parents and teachers. Even though Tecna had barely attended a week of classes, she still passes the final assessment, earning her Enchantix powers, with flying colours.

After walking up the steps to the platform, Tecna stood in line with the rest of the Winx Club. She looked over at Musa, with whom she had become quite close friends. Tecna acted as a voice of reason when Musa was frustrated or sad, whereas Musa helped Tecna deal with more emotional matters, especially after the ordeal she experienced since leaving Zenith.

'We will now be presenting our new Guardian fairies with their final gifts before leaving Alfea. It is time for them to achieve pure harmony with the magic dimension.'

Professors Palladium and Wizgiz stepped forward and presented them with small, adorned boxes. Tecna's was a soft lilac colour. She could feel its energy and magic pulsating from within. Slowly, she slid her fingers over its lid and opened it up, releasing its power.  
'I feel connected to every form of technology everywhere,' She felt one with every wire, circuit, system and computer in the whole magical dimension.  
The other girls seemed to be experiencing the same thing. They gasped and smiled as their bodies levitated into the air. These extra powers were presented to them as part of becoming guardian fairies.

'And now, our five Alfea graduates are ready to become the guardian fairies of their realms!' Grizelda announced triumphantly. Her words were met with subsequent applause by all of the spectators, including Tecna's parents. Bloom, who was standing in the crowd, cheered for them the loudest. Even though she had earned her Enchantix powers, she wasn't able to graduate and become a guardian fairy because her home planet, Domino, had been destroyed.

Slowly, the girls walked back down the steps towards the crowd. They were greeted with eager smiles and words of congratulations. They eventually got through the sea of people and reached Bloom and the specialists, including Timmy, who met Tecna's eyes lovingly.  
'Timmy!' She ran into her boyfriends loving arms.  
'I'm so proud of you Tecna.' Timmy smiled brightly, then leaned in to kiss Tecna on the cheek.

The group of fairies and specialists spent the rest of the afternoon socialising and eating finger food as the ceremony came to a close. Then it was finally time for the girls to pack their things and leave the campus. A few tears were shed as they made their way up the main staircase towards their dormitory room. Timmy followed Tecna to help her pack up the remainder of her belongings. Tecna's room was all but bare, except for a few pieces of furniture. They decided to get to work instantly. Timmy attempted to help by emptying the last of her clothes and her electronics. They had just lifted one of her larger gadgets into her suitcase when she tripped over a stray cable and fell backwards.

'Tecna, are you alright?' Timmy kneeled down next to her. Upon reaching the ground, he noticed that her bangs had slid to the slide, revealing the red, circular scar on her forehead. With a slight gasp, she realised that he was looking right at it and stood up instantly, trying to regain her composure. She fixed her hair anxiously in an attempt to cover it up and pretend that nothing happened.

'It's nothing really-'  
'Tecna wait,' Timmy grabbed her arm gently 'I've seen it before, I noticed it when you were unconscious on the first day we met. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to bring back any memories, but after finding out about the Ageing Ceremony, and seeing how awful the Zenithian system really was... I'm worried about you Tecna.' Timmy took her hands in his.  
'But if it makes you too uncomfortable, you don't have to say anything.' He added quickly.

Tears sprang to Tecna's eyes, not only from Timmy's sudden declaration, but upon remembering her past. She stood there in silence, unable to say a word. Timmy wrapped his arms around her tenderly and caressed her soft, magenta hair in an effort to comfort her.  
'You're right...,' She sighed nervously, a single tear falling down her cheek 'I should have told you, I can't keep it a secret forever.' And so, she told him everything. All the details of the awful things that happened to her on Zenith. The shock chamber. The simulation test. Everything. By the time she was finished, her entire body was shaking uncontrollably, and Timmy was looking at her with an expression of pure horror and sorrow.

'Oh my god...,' Timmy's own eyes started to water as he imagined such horrible things happening to his beloved 'I knew something bad must have happened but this...,' He paused 'Oh Tecna, I'm so sorry.'

'You have nothing to apologise for,' Tecna ran her hand down the side of his face, gazing into his hazel eyes 'My life has been so much better since you can into it. If you hadn't come to Zenith then we wouldn't be together... You've given my life meaning.'

Tecna put her arms around Timmy's neck and kissed him passionately, sinking into his arms as her lips met his. He returned the kiss, and in those few moments time and the world as they knew it seemed to slip away. They got up and relocated to Tecna's bed. There they lay in each others' arms for what felt like eternity, letting reality as they knew it slip away. Their lives weren't perfect, they knew that now more than ever. But they had each other, and that was more than enough.

A/N: And that's it! The last chapter is complete. Thank you all for reading! I had no idea there were so many reviews on this story until I logged onto my computer a few days ago XD thank you guys so much. Also a special thanks to TechnoFan34 for being inspired by this story and for mentioning me in her fanfic "The Realm Of Default"! Please go check out her fanfictions, she writes about Tecna and Timmy as well, and all of her stories are really great! I'm thinking of writing a sequel to this, I really enjoy writing about this universe and these characters. I actually re-read the previous chapters of this story last night and there were so many mistakes that I died a little inside but shhhhh. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!

\- WolfQueen999 (I know my username is kinda cringe but I've had it since I was 9 and honestly I'm not bothered to change it)


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